It seems like an odd question, short answer is yes, they do, like everybody else does. Depression hits us all at one point or another with different levels of severity and the successful are not immune to it.
Successful people have low periods, bouts of serious depression and gets into ruts in their lives, just as much as everyone else. It is how we measure it, deal with it and what we consider success that makes it worthwhile. So, what causes successful people to feel so low when they seem to have it all?
Well for starters there’s the very definition itself, how do you measure success? Is it how many zeros are at the end of your paycheque each month?
Is it the number of times you’ve been promoted? Or, is it something more humble? Your health, the fact you have a roof over your head and access to the internet to be able to read this article? Or even (to some) the ability to read this at all?
How we measure success can have a great impact on how it makes you feel about success itself. For example; if you measure success on money alone, your only motivator is going to be those extra zeros, and how long can you chase that for?
It, believe it or not, gets boring at times. Why have all the money in the world when you could be happier with less and instead have a better family/work balance? In the grand scheme of things, giving money more control and passion than meaning to life itself will lead you to isolation and therefore, your basic communal familial and social needs aren’t met which inherently leads to depression.
Seeing success as reaching the bigger title and promotion doesn’t work either. What happens if you get to the top and it’s not what you thought it was? What happens when you’ve reached director/CEO level and you find yourself never being able to do anything you planned to because you’ve either got commitments with the company, or your peers don’t want you to follow the vision you had for when you reached said position?
What if you were happier when you were at a lower level? Placing value on a title alone will give you gratification when you reach there, for a while, but don’t make this title the be all and end all. Enjoy the progress you’ve made and are making because the journey is exciting too and each success along the way should be equally celebrated.
How you manage and strategize your attitudes to failure is another factor. Perfectionism sounds like an ideal characteristic, but in all reality, it’s terrible. A perfectionist is never happy, it has to be either perfect for it to be a success and anything else is wrong and a failure.
The truth is, placing value only on ‘perfect’ gives more stress and causes more depression, than accepting that barely any original plans goes accordingly and that any failure and creatively working your way out of it to reach the goal is a far more rewarding and worthy success.
Think about how you value success and what success means to you to avoid the pitfalls and if they come, work your way around them. After all, failing your way to success is an interesting and believe it or not, satisfying way to enjoy the fruits of success in the end.
To your success.
Tahar
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tahar is a bestselling author of “Fail Your Way to Success” and an internationally renowned speaker on leadership, real estate investing, entrepreneurship and productivity. His privately held real estate investment company conducts sales revenues exceeding $1.5 billion a year.
He has challenged and changed the way people think in pursuit of their scaling their business and pursuing their dreams. His business has made him a valuable resource for media seeking commentary and insights on real topics that matter. He urges everyone he speaks with to make success their duty, responsibility, and obligation.
Tahar resides in Los Angeles California and London United Kingdom. To book Tahar for your business, event or conference please Call (USA) +1 323-522-4879 or (UK) +44 207 692 7031