Youth advocate urges young people to define success on their own terms
Youth advocate Agbezudor Hillary Sedem has urged young people to define success based on their own goals and journeys rather than comparing themselves with others.
A youth advocate, Agbezudor Hillary Sedem, has urged young people to define and personalise their understanding of success rather than measuring their achievements against the progress of others.
She said many young people are losing sight of their own identity, dreams and aspirations in an attempt to keep pace with what society considers successful.
Speaking on Voices of Change on Saturday, September 12, Sedem encouraged young people to recognise that their journeys, challenges, achievements and timelines are unique.
“Individualise your success story by recognising that your journey, struggles, achievements and timing are uniquely yours.”
“Your success story is personal, so do not measure it by someone else’s journey,” she added.
Sedem stressed the need for individuals to look inward and develop their own understanding of success, noting that many people pay more attention to the voices and achievements of others than to their own aspirations.
“Everyone has their own definition of success, but we often listen more to other people’s voices than ourselves. We all have dreams and ambitions we want to achieve, but we look at other people’s timelines and forget about what we have inside of us,” she said.
She explained that people often focus on the achievements of others in their careers or businesses without considering the struggles, sacrifices and processes that contributed to those accomplishments.
According to her, this creates the tendency for individuals, particularly young people, to desire the results others have achieved without appreciating the journey behind those results.
Sedem also identified social media as one of the factors intensifying the pressure to succeed, particularly among young people.
She noted that while social media offers several benefits, people generally showcase their successes while leaving out their failures, mistakes, struggles and weaknesses.
She therefore urged young people to be cautious about comparing their lives with what they see on social media, stressing that such comparisons can create unrealistic expectations about success.
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