8 lessons to learn from the rise & demise of Michael Jackson
Whether you love him or hate him, there’s no denying that Michael Jackson reached a level of success in the music business that still hasn’t been replicated by anyone else yet. He had 13 number 1 hits and his “Thriller” album was the best-selling of all time, with 50 million copies sold.
Michael had a tremendous amount of success but he also had a tremendous amount of troubles and pain. There’s a lot we can learn from his rise to fame and from his demise. Here are 8 of the biggest lessons we can learn from him; even though many he didn’t learn himself.
1. Be generous, but also cautious
Michael was a generous person and genuinely wanted to help people. He gave money to those who needed it and a lot of people took advantage of this.
As you, yourself start to achieve success and wealth, it is your duty to help others but be cautious of the people who come out of the woodworking looking for handouts. It’s not usually the people who are begging for money that need help.
2. Fame comes with a huge price
To the average person, being famous seems like a great way to live. People take care of you, you have piles of money and you can have anything you desire.
Because of this you may think that you’re able to live life any way you want, but nothing is further from the truth. Michael couldn’t even do the simplest of things in life like going to the store. His fame trapped him inside his house and he couldn’t really live.
3. You can be famous, yet completely lonely
Despite all his staff, entourage, friends, and family, Michael’s soul was still lonely. He seemed to be lost and didn’t always have a good person to turn to. What’s important to remember is not the number of friends you have, but how good of friends they are.
4. Money doesn’t bring happiness
Enough said.
5. When you change the exterior, the interior isn’t affected
Michael was very self-conscious about the way he looked. He kept altering his exterior but it didn’t seem to satisfy him. The reasoning? Because the problems he was trying to fix were deeper.
There were facts and rumors that Michael’s father was abusive and often made fun of Michael’s looks. The actions and words of his father had to have led him to making the decisions to change his look.
6. Want to achieve huge goals? You need a huge amount of passion
Sure, Michael was forced into music when he was a child, but he wanted a solo career because he had a love for it.
Michael had a huge amount of passion and because of it he achieved a huge amount of success. If you want to achieve goals with your talent, you’ve got to eat, breathe, and live it.
7. Never forget to appreciate your supporters
Perhaps you aren’t going to be a famous pop star but no matter what you’re going to be, as you achieve success you’ll have fans. People who look up to you, support you and every goal you go after.
Despite how many fans Michael had, he appreciated them all. He gave advice to actor Cory Feldman saying to treat every supporter with love and respect, no matter your mood.
8. How to live forever
In his last print interview with Ebony magazine Michael spoke about death and how to live forever through your work:
“Let’s face it. Who wants mortality? Everybody wants immortality. You want what you create to live, be it sculpting, painting, music composition. Michelangelo said, ‘I know the creator will go, but his work survives’. That is why to escape death I attempt to bind my soul to my work.”
Bind your soul to your talent’s work and you’ll never truly die.
What did you learn from Michael’s talent, success, and personal life? Please share in the comments below.
Photo by Fabio Ikezaki
15 Responses to “8 lessons to learn from the rise & demise of Michael Jackson”
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I thought I’d post this article I just came across. It lists “16 of Michael Jackson’s Greatest Non-Musical Achievements.” It’s worth a look: http://brainz.org/16-michael-jacksons-greatest-non-musical-achievements/
-Andrew
Talent is something you’re born with or without. Luckily, passion is something that you decide. So if you concentrate all your strength, dedication, mind and soul into one single spot at a single time, you can accomplish great many things. To me, this is the lesson MJ left (along with massive tons of brilliant music,dance moves and visuals) Cheers!
What you’re saying is very interesting. I think some talents we acquire over the years and others we are born with, but passion is something we all need to create.
Michael definitely did concentrate his mind, soul, strength, and dedication into his music.
Glad you enjoyed this article,
Andrew
Great review of the lessons we can learn from Michael Jackson’s life. I learned some of those already after making my own mistakes. And it’s good to let people know that money isn’t the solution to your problems. You have to get your spirit right. Read more articles about the impact of Michael Jackson’s life on my site, http://www.mytensense.com
[...] con permesso da un articolo di Andrew Galasetti, intitolato 8 lessons to learn from the rise & demise of Michael Jackson e disponibile sul suo blog [...]
Great article, Andrew. I translated and published it on my blog, of course sharing the source.
The lesson I learned is: don’t burn yourself with the fire of your passion.
Thanks Giovanni!
-Andrew
[...] tramonto di Michael Jackson [Tradotto con permesso da un articolo di Andrew Galasetti, intitolato 8 lessons to learn from the rise & demise of Michael Jackson e disponibile sul suo blog [...]
Hi Teneshia,
Glad you got a chance to check out my article and I’m glad you enjoyed it.
A lot of these lessons can and should be learned on our own, but Michael’s story is a true reminder of them.
-Andrew
Thanks for sharing this excellent article. I think there is a lot to learn from Michael’s life. For me personally I observe a person who felt lonely and misunderstood and searched endlessly for peace or something that would make him “happy”. I think the lesson is that money and fame do not equal happiness.
Hi,
Happy to share it!
I think that is one of the biggest lessons his life can teach us. We always say that money and fame doesn’t bring happiness, but his story brings reality to the statement.
- Andrew
I learned that life is fleeting. We can make plans (the way he planned for the comeback tour) and be ready to execute those plans (Michael was as good as he’d ever been). But if it’ss your time, it’s your time. At the end of the day, we truly are dependent on God who alots how many years we have left in this world. At the end of the day, putting the focus in Him rather than our fleeting lives is the only way to truly feel alive.
Hey JC,
Thanks for sharing your lesson!
Yes, life is fleeting that’s why you can hold off on your dreams.
-Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Your article helps us to understand, contrary to popular belief, money does not solve all of life’s problems.
Good job!!
Thanks!
Randy
Hey Randy,
It’s strange how people still believe money will make our biggest problems go away.
Glad you liked the article!
-Andrew