The following story might be familiar to you. Especially if you’ve read “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” by Mark Manson.

It’s about a young guitar player Dave Mustaine who was one day told by all of his band members that he’s no longer part of the band. No warning, no second chances. Dave was sad and angry - as we would all be. He plotted revenge. He formed a new band - the highly successful Megadeth.

However, unfortunately, the band Dave was kicked out from was even “more successful”.

Later Dave admitted that he was miserable despite all of the fame, money, and women. He considered himself a failure. He was not happy about the fact that the band he was kicked out from, was the one and only - Metallica.

The moral of the story: Money doesn’t bring you happiness. Success doesn’t bring you happiness. Followers, fame, validation doesn’t bring you happiness.

Just look at all these celebrities who “have it all.” Why is it that many of them kill themselves, take drugs, marry and re-marry every year, etc. Does that look like pure bliss and happiness? No, it doesn’t.

It’s as if they panic. They’ve got everything they’ve dreamed of, and they still feel bad. They don’t know what else to do.

Besides, there’s always someone who has more followers, more money, is taller, more fit, more handsome/beautiful, and so on. Chasing these things will be an endless loop. It’s better to realize sooner than later.

That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t achieve financial freedom, success, and wealth. By all means, we should!

However, it’s important to understand that we can’t fix internal issues with external things. They are two different realities, but people tend to put them in one pot. They think that if they get this or that, then that will “fix” them.

The solution: work on your internal issues and external issues separately.

KRISTJAN