Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Suppose you like fine bags or watches, ball gowns or ties, maybe some exclusive tennis shoes, anything. Now suppose you strive to achieve it, months of hard work, months of savings to be able to access that exclusive model of whatever, and when you finally buy it, what is the feeling? Is it success? What if you realized that what you bought is just a pirated version ? What do you think the feeling will be?
Now suppose that from the beginning you bought the article knowing that it is pirate because it was not enough for the original.
In both cases, we will have to do a self-analysis of why we want to impress others by showing that we can achieve what most of us cannot, and above all ask ourselves if this attitude is carried out in other aspects of our lives, since when consuming this type of objects or experiences, it is not the objects or experiences in themselves what we seek, but to be seen with it. That is why we quickly post our purchases, our trips, our couples and meals on our social networks.
It may be that we are obstinate in achieving experiences, partners, situations, things, and in general goals in life and that we are convinced that what we are looking for is success and we give everything we have to achieve it, time, imagination, efforts, health , youth, only to realize when we obtain it that it is a fleeting success and does not bring us the lasting fulfillment that we are looking for, that is when we will have realized that that success for which we fight so much is only a pirate success , a success that you were sold from outside, since the idea of success is generally instilled from society, family, state, religion, school, friends or enemies. What others think and tell us is important.
And it is that as in any market where piracy abounds, pirate success is also sold and bought on all the streets of any city in the world.
How you behave, how you act, how is your interaction in social networks, what is your public presentation, what are you investing your time and energy in, and what is the conception of success that underlies these efforts.
We have this linear construction of studying, getting a job, promotions, entrepreneurship and increasingly generating more money, buying a house, a car, a good partner and having children that reproduce our lifestyle … what everyone tells us is happiness and success. and yet… do you know exactly what a successful life means to you?
It is vital to know, since imagine that you finally achieve the goals that you thought would give you success and only led to a pirate success.
And it is that within this maelstrom of express everyday life we hardly ever stop for a moment to ask ourselves what a happy life would mean for us, what would a successful life mean for us, what would a meaningful life be, that when we die we can say : “Yes, I am comfortable with what I did and I used my life well.”
Most likely, what we do on a daily basis is not the result of this reflection.
Appear a failure to friends, family, cousins, co-workers or school, but to be happy, or vice versa, to be recognized as a very successful person even though within us there is sadness, confusion, conflict, lack, frustration and a sense of nonsense.
Why do we need the approval of others so much? Do we feel unworthy of acceptance? Why if this is the motivation, no matter how much money, how many likes, how much pirate success we achieve, it will never be enough. External approval by these means will only be pirated approval.
If you want to be worth as a human being, you must live there, you must dress that way, you have to go there on your vacation, you must buy this.
And so we internalize forms of success that are only an illusion and are shaping our whole life or much of what we do.
With damaged health, taking pills against pain and anxiety, drinking tons of coffee to “wake up” without realizing that the solution lies elsewhere, in the change of habits, in the change of social circle, in the change of thoughts , in helping other people with our endeavors, in having truly rewarding lives.
And let it be clear that this is not a glorification of poverty, much less a justification of the systems that create and reproduce poverty in a large sector of the world’s population.
However, why is this relevant?
Because your entrepreneurship in the end has to find a cause, your cause, you do not want to strive for years to find only a pirate success in the end, so make sure that whatever you perceive as success for your company, in reality it is also for you.