What is success?

The dictionary definition of success is: "The accomplishment of an aim or purpose".

Success is usually used when people discuss their careers and their dreams in life. But everyone's idea of success can differ. If you ask a Formula 1 driver what they would consider success, it would be winning the world championship. However, if you ask a teacher, they might say seeing their students excel in school and achieve their dreams.

When talking about success out of a career context, it could be defined as being truly happy in life, having a family of your own, or simply doing something you love. In the past two weeks, my life has been filled with success - or what I call success.

These moments of success varied in size. Some were huge life moments that I'll never forget and others are small things in life that made me happy and feel accomplished.

My moments of success might not seem like much to you. They may seem insignificant but I wanted to share them anyway. So, below are my moments of success over the past two weeks.

A Legend. An Icon. A Hero.

Credit: FormulaNerds

Last year I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and joined the podcast panel for FormulaNerds. Since then I've grown in confidence and have had amazing opportunities. The moment that defines success for me is when we interviewed Mario Andretti.

The Mario Andretti - F1 World Champion, IndyCar Champion, Indy500 Winner, Daytona 500 Winner, 3x 12 Hours of Sebring Winner, Pikes Peak Hill Climb Winner and 1999 Driver of the Year by The Associated Press.

I sat down with the podcast panel and Mario Andretti for an hour. It was one of the best hours of my life. Listening to Mario's life stories and experiences was just incredible. And he said my name!!

I was ecstatic after interviewing Mario and will never forget it. So grateful to FormulaNerds for everything they've done for me.

Click the photo to watch the interview on FormulaNerds YouTube or listen to it on podcast platforms such as Spotify.

VMRs and Press Conferences:

I'm one half of the F2 & F3 Editor for FormulaNerds - the other half being the amazing Sam. With our role as editor, we get lots of opportunities in regards to Formula 2 and Formula 3 - two of the F1 feeder series.

Whilst the job can be a bit stressful, it is immensely rewarding. I can officially say that I have succeeded in life because I have attended Virtual Media Roundtables and several press conferences interviewing drivers and team principals.

During pre-season testing for Formula 3, I interviewed three team principals: René Rosin for PREMA, Giacomo Ricci for Trident and Phillipe Sebastién for ART Grand Prix. To say I was nervous would be an understatement!

Since then, I've also interviewed Jack Doohan, Théo Pourchaire, and Juri Vips from F2; Frederick Vesti, Calan Williams, and Ayumu Iwasa for F3; and Franco Colapinto, Roman Stanek, and Kush Maini for F3.

Getting Published:

Credit: Open College of the Arts

One day I hope to publish my own novel. In fact, I'm currently writing it for university. Now I prefer fiction, reading, and writing. Poetry isn't something I've enjoyed much; I wasn't a fan of studying it in school.

That being said, I have indulged in poetry before as I have my own poetry book published. Writing these poems was a fun experience that allowed me to convey more emotion than in some of my prose. So, when my university asked for submissions for their edge-zine on identity, I thought why not?

I wrote a poem about identity, which is probably one of the most honest things I've written. I actually forgot I submitted it until the edge-zine was published and my name was in the contents.

So not only have I got a published poetry book, I've also got a poem published in an edge-zine.

Silverstone:

FormulaNerds sponsor an incredible SuperKart racer called Samantha Hempshall. Her 2022 racing season started last weekend at the Silverstone Circuit.

I had never been to a race track before, despite always wanting to go. I was lucky enough to go to Silverstone with FormulaNerds and watch Samantha race, but also to briefly interview her after her successful Sunday.

That visit to Silverstone was one of the best days of my life. I finally got to meet some of my work friends in person rather than just over Zoom - still have many more to meet! I experienced watching racing in person and being at a race track and walking through the paddock.

It was an incredible day! The only thing...my photo library is now full of pictures, haha!

4 Books. 4 Days.

Now, this moment of success isn't what some people would necessarily call success. But for me, it is.

I'm a massive bookworm, in fact this year I've already read 36 books of varying genres. Compared to some people I know, I read quite quickly. I'm forever receiving book recommendations from my bookish friends and the latest one was the Royal Hearts Academy series by Ashley Jade.

It's one of those popular bookstagram series - romance in genre - but when I was reading it, I was hooked. I read the first book within eight hours and finished the rest of the series within four days. I think that's possibly the quickest I've read a series, so I feel very accomplished, haha!

What's your latest success?

Have you had any success in life lately? If so, what are they? Let me know in the comments, even if they're small successes.

Until next time...