You Don't Really Want to Be Famous

You don't really want to be famous.

Every person I've ever met with a modicum of fame would probably agree with this statement. And they would trade all fame for the work that made them famous.

See, this is what we forget: fame is a by-product of work. Not the other way around.

People get famous (usually) because they did something really well. And that work took years to create, practice, and perfect. Once they did the work, then they did it again and again and again, in different iterations, different ways, different moments. They worked and worked and worked.

But they rarely did it for fame. The work was what was loved. Making, creating, doing, being. Acclaim was the by-product.

And, if faced with a sudden choice between their fame and their work, I bet almost every famous person would shed the distraction of fame in order to save their work.Work is what made the fame. The work is what matters.

So you don't really want to be famous. You want to do work that matters.

Ironically, that might make you famous.