Stop Trying to be Famous-Just be Good!

Every so often I meet someone who’s whole goal in life is to be famous. Since I was born in the 60’s I was born at a time before the Internet. A time when life was simple and slower. Kids played outside, in the street, and came home when the street lights came on. I love to dance and often wish I was born in the 50’s the age of dancing and cool hot-rods. You enjoyed life in your town because that’s as far as you could see. The only people truly famous in those days were movie actors, politicians, and rock and roll stars. You had to earn that fame through hard work and dedication to your craft. The behind the scenes work meant knocking on doors, calling potential clients, and hoping for a big break. People who made it to stardom in those days were true stars of the day.

Fast forward to 2020 and things are much different. The Internet has made the World smaller and now you can be a star without leaving your bedroom. Talk into a camera and with enough “Likes” you’re a star. Stardom is now about being famous by name and not for the work you do and this is causing what we now call Influencers to be a goal for life. Just make a big enough name for yourself and sponsors will bring the money to your door. Now kids are running around trying be famous for the money. This causes a new set of problems.

Social media has been good and bad for our society. For small business it has been great as it now allows a way for businesses to get their name out there for a smaller budget and reach people that may be interested in their wares. It has brought awareness to major issues destroying our planet like climate change and crime around the globe. It has allowed people to connect around the World and Grandparents to be in their family’s life. It has brought opportunities too many that may not have been able to see them before.

On the other hand it has made our society frivolous and superficial. People are more depressed than ever because they are trying keep up with a fake social media account. Internet trolls and hackers have easier access to all of our lives, and it is making people judge others based on false pretense.

True fame is when you are good at a craft and enriching lives at the same time!

Fake fame is killing our World and hurting others along the way just to make a buck. To me this is seriously wrong and I am surprised at the companies that support this although they may not know it. They are just looking at the size of the audience.

More eyeballs do not make you a better person. I have always been amazed at who we make famous in society. An actor plays a character in a movie with stunt people that do all of the dangerous work and still makes all the money because of good looks and acting. They get famous because many people see that movie. Yet we have researchers that are developing ways to fight cancer or stop viral infections and many of us don’t even know their names. Why are they not famous? Our world is upside down in my opinion and this is why people are suffering from depression and other issues. We need to reward people doing good in the World and not those just trying to have people look at them. Stop trying to be famous, just be good!

Listen to the podcast episode on this topic on the Cashing in on Creativity Podcast

About the Author

Bruce Outridge is a media and communication specialist from Ontario Canada. He specializes in helping people with their communications and content creation projects. Bruce is an artist, author, podcast producer, and television host. You can learn more about Bruce Outridge and his work at www.bruceoutridge.com