Abstract Success

Daily writing prompt
When you think of the word “successful,” who’s the first person that comes to mind and why?

Maybe a bit controversial and certainly not limited to this person, but in my mind, the first person I think of when asked about someone who is successful is Elon Musk… but not for the reasons you might think.

I have no idea who Elon is on a personal level, only what I’ve seen in the news and social media. For this question, I believe that’s all I need.

Elon Musk is an extremely unique individual in the fact that he has more money than the GDP of many countries, owns his own spaceship, literally sent his personal car into space, and doesn’t give a f*k what anyone thinks of him. Additionally, he has a sense of humor and even makes fun of himself.

Does all of that make him a success? Well, sort of. What I consider success is the ability to be free and independent of anyone else’s influence in all situations. He doesn’t care what anyone thinks. He cannot be purchased. He does what he wants without fear of financial backlash from sponsors, donors or anyone else. He can joke when his multi-million dollar rocket blows up with lines like “because we were dumb.”

For me, success is defined by the amount of freedom someone has to live their life without the influence of anyone else. For that purpose, Elon Musk is my personal standard.

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