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“To be able to do what you want when you want it,” she said, when asked what success means to her. For her, that definition has little to do with conventional displays of wealth.
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For Mzbel, success is no longer about how many cars sit in the driveway, how many businesses she owns or how impressive her house looks.
The Ghanaian musician and media personality says she now measures success by something less visible but, in her view, far more valuable: peace of mind and the freedom to live life on her own terms.
Speaking to Kafui Dey, Mzbel said her understanding of success has changed significantly with age and experience.
“To be able to do what you want when you want it,” she said, when asked what success means to her.
For her, that definition has little to do with conventional displays of wealth.
“It is not the money, the house, the cars,” she said.
Mzbel argued that having money does not automatically mean a person is successful if their mind is constantly occupied by problems, businesses and obligations.
She pointed to people who may have several businesses and significant financial resources but remain constantly busy and unable to enjoy their lives.
“You are not successful because your mind is not at peace,” she said.
According to Mzbel, peace is the real measure.
“Success is peace.”
She believes the constant pursuit of more money can become its own trap.
The more businesses and possessions a person accumulates, she explained, the more responsibilities come with them.
“Those of you fighting to have plenty money, have plenty, it will never end. You will never relax,” she said.
Mzbel’s perspective appears to have been shaped partly by her own experience in the entertainment industry.
She recalled a period when she had a list of material goals she wanted to achieve as her career grew.
She wanted to build houses, own a beach house and upgrade her lifestyle as her career progressed.
At the height of her music career, she also changed cars frequently.
She recalled owning several vehicles, including a Suzuki Vitara, Toyota RAV4, Mitsubishi, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz.
At one point, she said, she was changing cars almost every year.
But her relationship with material possessions eventually changed.
She said her last car remained with her for about 10 years and she would not have replaced it if people had not repeatedly commented on the vehicle’s condition.
“If it was not because people were bothering me with it, I wouldn’t have changed because the air condition was perfect,” she said.
The irony, according to Mzbel, was that the car still did exactly what she needed it to do.
It could take her where she wanted to go, and she maintained it regularly.
But social pressure eventually influenced her decision to replace it.
That experience appears to have reinforced her broader view that possessions can sometimes end up controlling their owners.
“We want too many things, and these too many things, when they come into your life, they will control you,” she said.
Today, she said she would rather have enough money to live comfortably than be surrounded by businesses and possessions that constantly demand her attention.
“I rather have a lot of money in my bank account and a small place to put my head, business that keeps going and coming and I don’t have to do much,” she said.
Her definition of wealth, therefore, is less about accumulation and more about autonomy.
Mzbel acknowledged that she once viewed success differently.
At the height of her music career, she said she believed she needed to keep doing more; more shows, more music, more houses and more possessions.
Looking back, however, she says she did not have the knowledge she has today.
“Because the knowledge I have now, I didn’t have it,” she said.
For Mzbel, the ultimate luxury is not necessarily having everything.
It is having enough and being able to enjoy the life that comes with it.
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