Camila Cabello on redefining success through stoicism

Executive overview

Measuring success by outcomes you can't control — views, awards, others' opinions — guarantees dissatisfaction. Stoicism offers a practical alternative: an internal scoreboard built around what you can control.

Cabello describes how reading Ryan Holiday's books during her mental health crisis and while writing her second album shifted her creative identity. She moved from leading with what she does to leading with who she is.

Character — bravery, kindness, honesty — comes before any outcome.

The internal scoreboard

• External metrics (views, likes, sales) are uncontrollable — tying success to them guarantees unhappiness.
• The reframe: did I show up honestly? Was I kind? Was I fully myself?
• Meeting your own standard is a successful day, even if anxiety was present.
• Amor Fati — not just accepting difficulty, but using it as fuel.

Ego and creative work

• Insecurity in a writing session is ego: you're creating for others' approval, not to tell your truth.
• Marcus Aurelius: we care about ourselves more than others, yet care about others' opinions more than our own.
• Holiday's Conspiracy sold least well of all his books, but decoupled sales from quality — a breakthrough.

Redefining success in practice

• TikTok fame as an eight-year-old's ambition illustrates how distorted cultural values have become.
• Genuine purpose — art, connection, community — isn't tied to fame or recognition.
• Stoicism shifted Cabello's philosophy permanently: character leads, actions follow.