Zendaya On Not Needing Validation To Be Happy (Or Successful)

There were a number of reasons that you got out of the bed to do whatever "it" is that you do to secure a bag every day. Whether that means working a 9 to 5 so that you can finally start your business or hustling to find another paying client, whatever "it" is you're doing every day, make sure you're doing it for you, not the 'gram and Euphoria star, Zendaya, will tell you the same thing.

In a recent interview with ET Online, the 23-year-old actress opened up about how she navigated one of the most transitional points in her career, and according to her, "it" was done without needing the approval of others. When asked how she handled the pressure of living up to such high expectations, she had this response:

"It's a personal thing. If I try to take the world out of it, it's not about proving anything to the world, but it's really about getting better as an artist and being more in touch with where I can go and how I can do it."

Zendaya shared that after 7 years in the industry, she's learned that the only expectations that really matter are her own.

"I just try to keep it internal, because that's a much happier place to work from when you are working really just to prove yourself that you can do it."

Last year, in an interview with ELLE, Zendaya shared more about how trusting her own gut has stretched her not only in her career, but as a person.

"I think 'Euphoria' taught me a lot about myself. It made me more confident in my own abilities because I doubted myself a lot. I was looking for something to prove I can do it. Euphoria served as that, in the healthiest way. I never want to plateau as an actress—I always want to be able to explore and push myself. [Being an actress] brings me to places and makes me do things I'd probably never do because I'm such an introverted person."

As a creative, it's easy to let internal chatter get the best of you and according to Zendaya, that can be a good thing. Growing up as a child actress, Zendaya says that the opinions of others eventually dominated her thoughts. It was only through solitude and self-reflection that she was able to truly see opportunities that were in her best interest:

"I had grown up—I moved out, and it was time for me to be the sole voice in my career and make my own choices. I just had too many people I was trying to please, too many opinions, and I was constantly talked out of following my gut and my instinct. I don't have a road map for this shit—I grew up really, really fast. I learned to trust myself a lot more."

Featured image by Instagram/@Zendaya.