If there are two things that define us as a person, they are qualities and traits. The way we act, speak, present ourselves to others and the things we do will revolve around them. which is why they are incredibly important parts of our lives.
Whether its our characteristics, features or attributes, these qualities and traits will define how us as individuals may approach challenges and navigate through life.
But is it to extreme to say that we should admire these qualities and traits over actual people, particularly celebrities and idols?
Well to a great extent, not at all because perhaps some of these celebrities may possess some traits and qualities that you can look up to!
Discipline is a very key quality to have because it out-classes motivation in almost every aspect!
The list goes on…
“I have no Idols, I admire only work, dedication and competence” – Ayrton Senna
Even some of the most famous celebrities and sportsmen and women managed to gain success without having the need to idolise someone. Ayrton Senna, the Brazilian Formula One driver is a famous example that comes to mind!
So with these qualities and traits in mind, here are the 5 best reasons why admiring qualities and traits is better than admiring people…
Choosing to admire celebrities isn’t exactly something that should be normalised. While many of your favourite celebrities may posses positive and inspiring traits, whether it be their hard-work, dedication or talent, these very celebrities may not entirely be as perfect as they may seem.
For example, many role models or celebrities will only act in the interest of their fans. This may involve putting on a persona or generally faking their personality and how they act in order to make the public think they are a good person.
However, this simply may not be the case behind the publicity, media and attention of the public eye!
It’s this exact reason that idolising celebrities can be damaging to you, because it may mean that you begin to gain their own qualities and traits which are potentially imperfect.
Take a famous businessman for example. You may admire them for the monumental success and wealth they’ve achieved, but perhaps they may have gotten their wealth immorally. Perhaps they simply inherited it or took advantage of other people for their own personal gain! And yes, while inheriting wealth isn’t at all immoral, celebrities may choose to hide this fact, in order to uplift the way they are presented to the public as ‘inspiring’!
Admiring solely the qualities and traits of a celebrity rather than the celebrity themselves, means that you are admiring something that doesn’t have any underlying situations or negative aspects that may tarnish that trait or quality.
They are a perfectly reliable and positive way of feeling inspired whether it be for your personal growth, motivation or encouragement in day-to-day life!
This point expands upon my previous point about the authenticity of a celebrity or idol. You have the remember that the celebrities and people you may look up to are likely to represent a small part of society.
Specifically the nature of a celebrities fame can often feel distant and unrelatable to the majority of people in our world, which can make them not ideal to look up to for admiration.
It may be the luxurious lifestyle and fast cars that you look at for inspiration which is unrealistic to look at if you aren’t currently living a similar lifestyle.
Instead, you should look to the qualities and traits of that person who has achieved that lifestyle!
Looking at the fast cars that this so called idol drives or the $1 million yacht they own won’t teach you how to potentially achieve that lavished lifestyle you want to achieve, but looking at their traits and qualities that got them to achieve to get these things can!
For example, admiring their hard-work and discipline will encourage you to harness these qualities and incorporate these traits into your own lifestyle.
So don’t admire the person, admire their qualities and traits instead!
Have you ever heard of the saying, “comparison is the thief of joy”?
Well this can apply to the type of things you admire or idolise in life as well.
If you look up to a celebrity or person with a great status in society, whether it be Tayler Swift or Elon Musk, the chances are you’re likely to compare yourself to them.
This is something that can inhibit personal growth as you try to do things that they do which are unrealistic or won’t work, because you may not posses the luxury or financial status that they have!
Let’s take Elon Musk, a successful entrepreneur as an example. You may be inspired to gain the wealth that he possesses, which may mean that you employ business tactics similar to his to try and get that success you’ve been striving for.
However, if you haven’t got the capital or financial infrastructure to make this work, you’ll inevitably fail and lose your money! This can be the issue with admiring certain celebrities, entrepreneurs and inspiring figures in general.
Comparing yourself to them can make you feel more eager to achieve their success, causing you to employ sketchy tactics or methods that are simply too risky and unrealistic to make work. This will inhibit personal growth and actually lead you in the wrong direction when it comes to trying to possess their qualities and traits!
So be careful in who you look up to. It isn’t the person you should compare yourself to, but the qualities and traits that they possess that you should compare with your own!
Celebrities and social figures aren’t exactly all sunshine and rainbows when it comes to how they treat the public and their fans.
They may be rude or cruel, even though social media portrays them as the kindest and nicest people on this planet, which is why you need to be careful with the people you look up to for inspiration! This isn’t the case with qualities and traits, because something like competence and hard-work isn’t something that’s misleading or difficult to understand or follow.
Many celebrities can often lack empathy and humility, despite either being presented in a good image by the media or putting on a fake ‘loving’ persona just for their personal gain and presenting themselves in good light just to get attention!
This can be especially damaging to the lot of us who look up to these certain so-called role models, because finding out their true colours can make us feel betrayed, leading to a loss in motivation or drive to find success through their ways.
Resilience and perseverance are qualities which can further be strengthened by admiring and taking up certain traits.
Particularly possessing the traits of truly inspiring celebrities, role models, entrepreneurs or athletes can serve as a great reminder of our human capabilities in overcoming obstacles and the our determination and shear will power to tackle adversity! This is especially if you consider what those people went through and the traits they possessed to achieve their success.
It could be that they developed their physical and mental wellbeing through hard work in the gym and meditation, in order to tackle the challenges they faced in their lives or the discipline they adopted to work consistently at 100% even during days when they felt like they were at 20%.
It’s traits like these that YOU can look up to and use yourself that can make you realise how much resilience and perseverance even during the hardest of times you may face you can develop!
With all of this in mind, it’s clear that looking up to and admiring qualities and traits can absolutely hold more value than looking up to and admiring people who we see as idols and role models outside of our families, friends and relatives.
Whether you want to build resilience and perseverance, or want to enhance your personal growth qualities and traits are the greatest tools to take advantage of and they should always be used in your daily life!
