Individual sheds light on the true meaning of success and being happy with what they have

Hustle culture has resulted in people setting unusually high standards for success and chasing dreams that they probably cannot fulfill in their lifetime. While this leads to a constant feeling of dissatisfaction and disappointment for many, some individuals snap out of their delusional dreams and focus on the practical success that they can find. u/Succesful-Word-9834 shared an insightful message about how they had found clarity when it came to their career and life. Their post titled, "I finally figured it all out!" has gained 1.6k upvotes and 90 comments.

The individual begins by sharing that they noticed a lack of ambition with themselves. They wondered why and came to a realization. They wrote, "I made it. My entire life, I wanted a loving family with a home. I have my lovely wife and daughter. We bought a home three years ago. I have everything I always wanted." They mention how they could have bought a bigger house and fancier cars, but it would just be a vain effort to impress strangers.

The individual managed to save up quite a bit over the years too. Somehow, despite finding so much stability in life, they still had a voice in their head telling them to achieve more. But they introspected and realized that such attempts would be futile. They say, "Am I rich? According to the media, I am poor, but we are all fed and the bills are paid. Do I need gold, diamonds, more TVs, leather, marble, fame or name brands? What am I chasing?"

They talk about how they have reached the peak of "Late Stage Capitalism" and won. The individual shares how they lived through many different presidencies because of their own hard work. The optimistic post concludes with: "I am the richest man in the world because when I look around trying to figure out what I need next, I can't think of anything. I won. From here on out, all the rest is just showing off!"

People found the individual's outlook very sensible and shared their own insights in the comments section. u/PolyPorcupine said, "If only all the rich of the world were as content as you, the capitalistic world wouldn't be the hellscape it is, good on you, influence others of your state with your values." Another person, u/throwaway798319, commented, "Congratulations! I'm genuinely happy for you that you managed to shake off the compulsion for more, more and more."

More people seem to be agreeing with this sentiment of working smart and recognizing what one actually wants. Rene Lacad (@renelacad) is a millionaire and firmly believes that success is not tied to the number of hours an individual puts into their work. He posted a video reacting to another video where a man looks into the camera with a text overlay: "If you work less than 100 hours a week, lower your tone when talking to me."

He starts the video by saying that he harbored no hate for the other guy and that he was probably doing his own thing. Lacad then talked about his own views on the amount of working hours and said that he didn't believe one should take pride in working more than 100 hours a week. He also mentioned how he was a victim of the same kind of mindset, which pushed him to work for over 50 hours in a sales job. What he thought was hard work was actually him giving away his time to help someone else's dream.

Lacad talks about how people's outlook would change once they began to make "real money," which would allow them to live a lifestyle of their choosing. He shares how he would presently work for just four hours a day and still manage to make good money. It was at this point that most people would begin valuing smart work over hard work. He concludes by saying, "Hard work is never the goal, happiness is. Love you guys."