“Attempt to not be successful, however relatively to be of worth.” ~Albert Einstein, tailored
I usually really feel like I used to be born into the incorrect story.
I grew up in a time when success meant one thing quieter. My father was a public college music instructor. We didn’t have a lot, however there was a dignity in how he carried himself. He believed in doing good work—not for recognition or wealth, however as a result of it mattered.
That perception formed me. I turned a instructor, filmmaker, and musician. And for many years, I’ve adopted an identical path: one rooted in which means, not cash.
However someplace alongside the way in which, the story modified.
Throughout me—particularly in locations like Los Angeles, the place I’ve lived and labored—I see individuals working. Hustling. Branding. Monetizing. It’s not sufficient to be good anymore. It’s a must to be seen. Promoted. Scaled. Life itself has turn out to be one thing to market.
And in that shift, I’ve felt one thing sacred go lacking.
The False Promise
I’m not towards success. I would like to have the ability to pay my payments, assist my household, and really feel valued. However the model of success we’re fed—fame, visibility, countless productiveness—is a lie. It guarantees which means however usually delivers vacancy.
We’ve changed presence with efficiency. Care with clicks. Integrity with optimization. And the consequence? A society the place exhaustion is regular and sufficient is rarely sufficient.
Psychologists name it extrinsic motivation—doing one thing for a reward, like cash or applause. It’s not inherently dangerous. However when it dominates our lives, we lose contact with intrinsic motivation: the enjoyment of doing one thing simply because it issues to us.
When the whole lot turns into a transaction, even pleasure begins to really feel like a product.
The Shortage Recreation
Typically I really feel like we’re all scrambling for crumbs. Competing for consideration, purchasers, gigs, or algorithms. Everybody making an attempt to outlive, to be seen, to matter.
It’s primal—like a twisted model of the hunter-gatherer intuition. However the place historical people balanced competitors with neighborhood, we’ve saved the struggle and misplaced the tribe.
Now, even collaboration usually feels strategic—a way to climb, to not join. “Networking” replaces friendship. “Partnerships” turn out to be efficiency. We’re instructed to “collaborate” so we are able to get forward—not as a result of it nourishes our souls.
That shortage mindset doesn’t simply form how we work. It distorts how we see ourselves. If another person is prospering, we really feel like we’re falling behind. If we’re not being seen, we begin to doubt our value.
This isn’t simply economics. It’s non secular erosion.
Capitalism and What It Forgot
I’ve been interested by capitalism—not as a political slogan, however as a cultural story. Adam Smith imagined markets constructed on freedom and mutual profit. However as we speak’s model usually rewards extraction over contribution, efficiency over presence, and particular person acquire over shared good.
Even training and healthcare—issues meant to uplift—are judged by effectivity, development, and return on funding. I’ve seen faculties lower arts packages within the identify of knowledge. I’ve watched care turn out to be content material.
And I’ve felt it in myself—this stress to show my worth with numbers, even when probably the most significant issues I do can’t be measured.
One other Manner of Residing
I’ve frolicked filming in distant indigenous communities within the southern Philippines, the place life strikes at a special tempo. There, individuals didn’t ask how one can monetize their objective. They lived it. Storytelling was instructing. Planting was prayer. Caring for elders wasn’t a chore—it was an honor.
No person was branding themselves.
However even in these locations, that lifestyle is vanishing. International markets, smartphones, and social media have arrived. The youthful technology is pulled towards fashionable success. And who can blame them? Visibility guarantees energy. However what’s quietly misplaced is the rootedness of belonging.
And it’s not simply them. It’s all of us.
Do We Should Disappear?
Typically individuals say, “In case you don’t just like the rat race, go stay in a monastery.”
However I don’t need to disappear. I really like music, dialog, cities, instructing. I need to stay on this planet—not retreat from it.
So the true query turns into: Can we stay meaningfully inside this world, with out being consumed by it?
I consider we are able to. Actually, I believe we should.
There are individuals all over the place doing quiet, very important work: lecturers who by no means go viral, gardeners who share meals, coders who write open-source instruments, volunteers who present up with out posting about it. They aren’t trending—however they’re tending to one thing actual.
Selecting What’s Actual
I don’t have a method. I nonetheless fear about cash. I nonetheless surprise if what I do issues. However I maintain coming again to this:
I’d relatively make one thing sincere that reaches ten individuals than faux one thing that reaches ten thousand.
I’d relatively be current than polished. I’d relatively care than compete.
In case you really feel this too—this ache, this fatigue, this quiet grief that one thing important is being misplaced—you’re not alone.
And also you’re not damaged. You could be one of many ones who remembers.
Remembers what it feels wish to pay attention deeply. To provide with out scoring factors. To stay from the within out, not the surface in.
That remembering isn’t weak point. It’s your compass. And even in a monetized world, it nonetheless factors you dwelling.
The Fact Beneath the Lie
Right here’s what I’ve realized: Success, as we’re taught to outline it, is a transferring goal. You’ll be able to chase it for many years and nonetheless really feel empty.
However which means—actual, soul-deep which means—is one thing we are able to return to at any second. It’s in how we love. How we present up. How we make others really feel. It’s within the work we do when nobody is watching.
We could not be capable of change the entire system. However we are able to inform a more true story.
One the place worth isn’t primarily based on efficiency. One the place success isn’t a end line. One the place we belong—not as a result of we’re spectacular, however as a result of we’re human.
That story remains to be attainable. And it’s value telling.
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