This quote from Mads Mikkelsen on how to handle your career is stopping people in their tracks

Have you ever wondered how it is best to approach your career? Do you seek out advice on what to prioritise? Follow your social media favourites to get a little bit of direction?

Well, one excerpt from a magazine feature with Mads Mikkelsen is generating a huge reaction on Twitter. The Danish actor was recently profiled by Vulture about his experience working on projects such as Hannibal, Casino Royale and Doctor Strange.

Amid the star-studded anecdotes, there was a moment that has really moved people on social media, when journalist E. Alex Jung asked him: “Is there a life philosophy that you feel has carried you through your career?”

And the actor replied: “My approach to what I do in my job – and it might even be the approach to my life – is that everything I do is the most important thing I do. Whether it’s a play or the next film. It is the most important thing. I know it’s not going to be the most important thing, and it might not be close to being the best, but I have to make it the most important thing.” He continued: “That means I will be ambitious with my job and not with my career. That’s a very big difference, because if I am ambitious about my career, everything I do now is just stepping-stones leading to something – a goal I might never reach, and so everything will be disappointing. But if I make everything important, then eventually it will become a career. Big, or small, we don’t know. But at least everything was important.”

People were absolutely stunned by the response, and really connected with the advice that chasing success in the future was not as important as doing your best now.

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Here are some of the best reactions:

Thanks for that, Mads. Some truly wise words.