success is being able to live the life you want

mallory, or miss malaprop as you probably know & love her, has waded through tragedy and learned to appreciate the opportunity she has to be able to work hard and make her own success. her blog is devoted to giving a voice to indie finds with a lot of personality. mallory also has a passion for sharing her love of the environment and her region: the gulf coast & new orleans.

miss malaprop is known for her unique perspective and brilliant personality. so i just had to know her take on success – how she defines it and how she measures her life & accomplishments against that definition. i love the way she started her answer: “for me, success is ultimately about being able to live the life you want to live, the life that makes you happy.”

how true!?

regardless of society’s definitions, your friend’s or family’s definitions of success… if we can reach a place where we are happy with ourselves & our work, what further success do we need? mallory continued:

I think in all walks of life, success means different things to different people. People with contrasting views of success are always going to judge you against their own ideal, but that doesn’t mean that you have to listen to them or agree. Ultimately, in this life we only owe allegiance to ourselves, to our own happiness.

I’ve always been a dreamer, and some might say overly ambitious at times. I’m of the opinion that if you reach for outrageous goals, you might not make them, but you’ll probably get a lot further than if you set your sights simply at what you think you’re capable of. (You’re probably capable of a lot more than you think!) My goals, my ambitions, my idea of personal success are constantly evolving, but I’m always trying to shoot pretty high. Step 1. Start a blog about handmade & eco-friendly goods, and in the process learn everything I can about the niche, about blogging, about marketing, about business. Step 2. Start an online retail store for handmade & eco-friendly goods. (Currently working with a web designer on this one, and planning to launch this spring!) Step 3. Work my way up to a real brick & mortar retail location in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Step 4. Multiple retail stores? A giant retail store/gallery/performance space/coffeeshopbarartistcommune? My own line of eco-friendly clothing, to be produced and distributed on the scale of American Apparel? I told you I like to shoot pretty high. And that’s not even all that’s on my list… I want to mentor kids interested in entrepreneurship. I want to travel the world and volunteer in other countries. Spending my retirement in the Peace Corps is a real possibility.

And if I don’t accomplish all of these goals? Will I consider myself a failure? Of course not, because I realize that goals change. I will grow and evolve, and maybe I’ll have new goals and some of these will become irrelevant. As long as I stay true to my heart, and feel like I’ve always strived to do what makes me happy, what makes me feel like I’ve contributed something beautiful and meaningful to the world in my own little way, I’ll feel like a success.

right on, mallory! those are my favorite kinds of goals too. the ones that look utterly unattainable, the ones that you see others reach and think “if only…”

if, sniff. make it happen, girlfriend!

leave mallory & i a comment here with one of your outrageous goals!