When Your Success Feels Like a Cage
How to break free and love, live, and lead on your terms.
We were sitting outside, across from one another on a balmy early spring London day.
โIโve built something everyone else admires. But I canโt feel myself inside it anymoreโฆโ
He was the founder of a highly successful medical technologies company. Successful by every standard. Respected in his field, people regularly turned to him for advice and answers.
But that day, he had nothing but questions: โI know something has to changeโbut I donโt know how to change it without losing everything Iโve worked for and disappointing a heck of a lot of people.โ
Somewhere in the middle of all of that achievement, heโd lost track of something that mattered more:
Himself.
He paused, tears in his eyes: โI want to feel proud of what Iโve built, but what if itโs no longer enough?โ
He paused again. Then exclaimed, โI just want to remember who I was before this got so big!โ
I couldโve asked him so many questions. But, instead, I offered a simple reframe:
โWhat if your life is your Opus, your masterpiece to create? What if you are your greatest work?
Not your company.
Not your reputation.
Not your productivity, visibility, or performance.
Your life. Your full, one lifeโyou!โ
Something shifted inside of him that day. It didnโt happen all at once; there were many layers to work through.
And he didnโt walk away from it allโwhy should he?
Instead, he started to put himself first.
He noticed how he felt when he woke up and how he moved through the day.
He became more conscious of what he was building, why, and who he could become as he built it. His lens widened.
He started designing his week around what made him feel most alive, delegating more.
He said no to a partnership he wouldโve celebrated just a few months before.
He picked up a passion project heโd long buried.
In time, he reclaimed his energy and spark and redefined what success meantโnot for the business or everyone else in his life, but for himself.
He realized he didnโt need more achievements or accolades; he had enough. He just wanted to build something that felt trueโa life with more impact, meaning, and feeling.
That was when the hamster wheel heโd been running on turned into something else: A track with direction.
And he set off with energy. With purpose and pacing. In service.
That one shiftโseeing his life as his Opus and believing it wasโset him on a new path of discovery, causing ripple effects throughout his life.
He moved differently. He led differently. He chose differently.
Hereโs what I know:
When you believe you are your greatest work, things start to move.
You begin to:
Stop reacting to the world around you and act from a place of grounding.
Reclaim your time, your energy, your attention.
Let go of roles and versions of you that no longer fit.
Make decisions based on alignment, meaning, instead of achievement.
And trust yourself enough to do it your way.
Itโs not always fast. Itโs not usually neat. But itโs honest. And that honesty changes everything.
What would happen if you believed you are your greatest work, and your life is your Opus? What might you create? Who might you become?
Start there. Because when your life becomes your Opus, you no longer chase success. You build itโfrom the inside out.
Until next time, be well!
As always, thank you for being here. If this resonates with you, please share this letter with others who might benefit. Thank you!
๐ Want more? My book, Live Your Opusโa revolutionary mindset and method for achieving and sustaining healthy, meaningful successโis coming soon. Itโs for ambitious people who crave deeper meaning, fulfillment, and direction but sometimes struggle to break through. Itโs The Artistโs Way for the modern professional. Reserve your copy today.
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