It is my belief that whatever you are doing in life is a direct reflection of what you want, and how hard you are willing to get it. Whether you are twenty-three years old and living with a family member and letting yourself go with the flow with just a slight goal in mind, or whether you’re the CEO of a business that you began working towards the moment you graduated high school, you can look back at where you’ve been doing to see where you’re going.
Take Billie Holiday as an example. She has been called one of the greatest jazz vocalists of all times, and yet in her early adult years, she was arrested for prostitution. By the age of twenty, in a failed audition to become a dancer for a Harlem nightclub, she realized her want and ability to become a professional singer. By the age of twenty-four, she had released one of her greatest singles, “Strange Fruit,” and that began the career that she continued throughout her lifetime. Although she spent most of her life dealing with her drug addictions, and coping with her personal tragedies, Ms. Holiday prevailed when singing.
And yet, through all of this, we know that she could have been better. Had she never started to do drugs in the first place (that led to a string of stints in rehab), or dealt with her emotions and trauma when her career first started to take off, she could have lived a much longer, healthier, and more successful life. But, she chose a different route, and it showed through her body of work, which could have been much larger.
Then look at the story of Christina Perri, a current artist. Her first album, “Lovestrong,” was released just seven months ago, and she is already extremely successful. Starting vocal lessons at the age of eight, she was born to a single mother, who worked as a hairdresser. Music was not ‘in her blood,’ but she picked up quickly with her own hard work and perseverance. She was even accepted into the University of the Arts in Philadelphia after high school, but only attended for a year. After spending her whole life working towards this goal by studying, recording, and posting videos of her performing on YouTube, she was discovered by an employee of the popular show, “So You Think You Can Dance,” and had a song written by her played as the backdrop to one of the dance performances. This was her big break, and she had worked hard to get it.
So, then you have to ask yourself a couple of questions. “What do I want to do with my life?” and, “How hard am I willing to work to get it?” As long as you know the answers to these questions, there should be nothing but yourself holding you back from getting there. Your past decisions and hard work can get you to exactly where you want to be in life, it just takes a strong mind and a lot of dedication to get there.