True success is living authentically

Someone once said that when you're 20, you care what everyone thinks. When you're 40, you stop caring what everyone thinks. When you're 60, you realise no one was ever thinking about you in the first place.
The relentless pursuit of others’ approval creates a life of perpetual performance, where every decision is filtered through the question: “What will others think?” It transforms authentic human beings into actors playing roles they never auditioned for. Living for others’ approval is exhausting because the audience never stops changing. The colleague who praises you today may criticise you tomorrow. The social media followers who validate your posts are strangers whose opinions shift with trends. When your self-worth depends on such unstable foundations, you’re building your life on quicksand. This approval-seeking behaviour also robs you of authenticity. You begin making choices based on what looks good rather than what feels right. You pursue careers that sound impressive rather than fulfilling. You maintain relationships that drain you because they appear successful from the outside. You lose touch with your own values, preferences and dreams in the process of trying to meet everyone else’s expectations.
Of course, there’s an important distinction between strategic conformity and life-defining conformity. Certain situations require us to adapt our behaviour, such as job interviews, formal events and professional settings. These moments serve practical purposes and don’t require sacrificing your core identity. The problem arises when conformity becomes your default mode of living, when you consistently prioritise fitting in over standing out or pleasing others over honouring yourself. We are constantly bombarded with images of luxury cars, designer clothes and picture-perfect lifestyles, and we’ve lost sight of what success truly means. We’ve been conditioned to believe that happiness comes from accumulating possessions and earning the approval of others. But this pursuit is not just misguided — it’s a guaranteed path to emptiness and dissatisfaction. The material objects we chase offer only temporary satisfaction. Like sugar rushes, they provide brief moments of pleasure often followed by crashes.

Research consistently shows that beyond meeting basic needs, additional wealth and possessions contribute remarkably little to long-term life satisfaction. Consider the wealthy individuals who struggle with depression, the celebrities who battle addiction despite having everything money can buy or the executives who achieve every material goal yet feel profoundly unfulfilled. The problem isn’t prosperity itself, but the belief that prosperity equals purpose. When we define ourselves by what we own rather than who we are, we become prisoners of our possessions. We work longer hours to afford things we don’t need, sacrificing time with loved ones, personal growth and meaningful experiences. Real success can be found in the depth of your relationships, in your contribution to something beyond yourself and in your capacity for growth and resilience. This kind of success is sustainable because it comes from within. It doesn’t depend on market conditions, others’ opinions or maintaining a certain image. It grows stronger with time rather than requiring constant maintenance and validation.
Once you stop chasing others’ approval and accumulating possessions for their own sake, you discover freedom. The freedom to pursue work that energises you, relationships that nourish you and experiences that expand you. This doesn’t mean living recklessly or ignoring practical considerations. It means making conscious choices based on your own values rather than giving in to social pressure.
True success is about becoming the person you want to be and doing what you want to do. It’s measured not in possessions accumulated or approval earned, but in living authentically. Your life is too precious to spend trying to impress people you don’t even like or with things you don’t actually need. True success requires the courage to walk your own path.