Mmm, I was going down a rabbit hole of existential crisis, but this brought an unexplainable inner piece in my mind. Thank you, I'll use this video as reference when I go into this rabbit hole of existentialism, to soothe my mind, and call it a day.

"People strive to be loved; if that fails, they want to be admired; if that fails, they want to be feared; if that fails, they want to be hated. For better to be hated than ignored."
~Hjalmar Söderberg

"Do not sacrifice the people who actually matter to you as if they are some dead weight holding you back from climbing your mountain of greatness because the person you become on the way up is the person who arrives at the top so you better make sure that person isn't lonely."

Great line man great fucking line.

Amazing story you told in video format man. Thank you.

Everybody is looking at the mountain you built not the hole you dug to build it.

Damn

The reason the “hustle” is so important for so many people is because the ceiling has been raised for normal living conditions

A few years back, one evening I was in a packed pizza place on my own. On the table next to me were 2 men in their late 20s, suited up, having just finished a hard day at work. They were discussing their future entrepreneurial ventures. Both wanted to leave working for the man in about 12 months. The first guy said he couldn't wait to get started and was going to start his venture straight away. The second one said "I think I might take six months off before I start my venture". The first guy was confused. "why?" he asked, "you know what you want to do, Why not just get on with it?" The second replied "Because I know what I want to do, but I don't know why I want to do it. I want to understand my motivations". I have always remembered that conversation.

As ever, it is not just younger people, Angelo, who benefit from your reflections. Us boomers find it thoughtful too. Keep up the great work.

Glorifying pain, suffering and destruction of relationships for progressing to the top is one of the worst traps to believe in

“In some ways, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice. That is why man is even ready to suffer, on the condition, to be sure that his suffering has a meaning” — Viktor E. Frankl.

A monk once said:
             "Do not set goals, chose a direction and appreciate everything you encounter on that path."  😇
                             This way you never reach that "top" or expectations and never have to move the goal post. (None of the "when this happens, THEN I'll be happy")

The only way to truly feel greatness is by ending the desire for it…

After all: you cannot desire something you already have!

I don't remember paying for YouTube Premium

I’m not trying to be loved or seen. I’m trying to be the greatest version of myself, seen or not, as long as I keep pursuing what I enjoy, whether I get famous or not, get rich or not, I just do what I love.

there's this poem that my dad gave to me and I still treasure it, or rather what he's always tried to tell me and I didn't understand until I was older, this poem matches his life view word for word and now I agree with it "Do not ask your children
to strive for extraordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable,
but it is the way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder
and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting
tomatoes, apples and pears.
Show them how to cry
when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure
in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.
William Martin,"

"I'd much rather you find you; someone who your audience will never know."
Such a profound statement. We often (willingly) forget the uncomfortable truth that the world will never truly see us the way we ourselves do - not even those whom we hold closest. This is why it is paramount to understand that before you seek connection with others, you ought to seek connection with yourself; the beautiful thing about the mind of an individual is that it is both the observer and the observed, and so it can feel both scornful and compassionate for itself as it would for a separate human being. That is the reason why being your own enemy (something far too common in our world) is a feeling of hatred and oppression greater than what anyone else in the world could make you feel. Conversely, befriending yourself is a bond incomparably stronger than the purest form of love another person could give you. Letting outside validation replace that will lead you wherevever your audience thinks you should end up, their preferences fickle as the waves of a restless ocean.

The “I’m him” I think is a bit misunderstood. Instead of meaning that we are portraying ourselves as someone else, it really means that the extraordinary image of excellence that everyone understands has been you the whole time

Around a year ago, one of your videos inspired me to write one of my first speeches, even though I am not really good with words or presentations. It was just because, I felt so addressed and I think, so many more people need to hear this, before they can’t. And I still remember how quiet the room had been after I had presented this speech in school.
So to anyone needing to hear it, here is the speech:

Li Wenjing was supposed to make it.
That’s what everyone told him. That’s what he told himself.
Born into a working-class family in China, he had spent his whole life chasing a future that always seemed just out of reach. As a child, he watched his parents come home exhausted, their hands calloused, their bodies worn down from endless hours of labor. He promised himself he would do better. Be better. Not just for himself, but for them.
So he worked. While other kids played in the streets, he sat hunched over textbooks. While his classmates laughed and dreamed about love, adventure, and simple joys, he memorized formulas and perfected essays, ignoring the dull ache in his chest that whispered: You’re missing something.
It didn’t matter. He was winning. He earned a scholarship to one of the best universities in the country. He graduated at the top of his class. He landed a high-paying job in tech, where the “996” work culture—9 AM to 9 PM, six days a week—was the norm. But Li wanted more. He had to be more.
He turned 996 into 007. No breaks. No weekends. No sleep. Seven days a week.
At first, people admired him. “He’s going places,” they said. But then, the invitations stopped coming. His friends grew tired of hearing “Maybe next time.”
The last time his mother called him, her voice was softer than usual. “Come home, just for a little while.”
“I will, mom,” he had said. But he never did.
Because there was always another deadline. Another promotion to chase. Another inch closer to a dream that was beginning to feel more like a prison.
Then came the warning signs. Headaches. Chest pains. Moments where his vision blurred at his desk. But he waved it off. Weakness was not an option.
At 27, he had everything: the high salary, the apartment with a city view, the respect of his colleagues.
At 27, he had nothing: no friends left, no hobbies, no joy.
One morning, he didn’t show up for work. His colleagues assumed he was busy. Hours passed. Then days. Finally, someone checked his apartment. They found him there. Alone. Gone. A heart that had beaten too fast for too long had simply stopped.
It took days for anyone to realize he was missing. His mother learned about his death from a phone call, her hands shaking so hard she almost dropped the receiver. His father, a man who had spent his life believing hard work could fix anything, sat in stunned silence, staring at the floor. His old friends saw the news in a short company email:
“A valued employee. Rest in peace.”
By the end of the week, someone else was sitting at his desk. His inbox was cleared. His name, once spoken with admiration, faded into a whisper.
When his family, who hadn’t seen him in months, arrived to pack up his things, they found a notebook beside his bed. One sentence was scrawled on the last page:
“I thought I was doing this for us. I thought I was doing this for me. But in the end, I don’t know who I was doing it for anymore.”
Li Wenjing didn’t just die of exhaustion. He died of a promise that had hollowed him out until there was nothing left.
And the worst part? The world moved on. Like he had never even been there.

He was another victim of hustle culture. A system that promises success but takes everything in return. And when you fall? It moves on—without you.

And now I ask you: How much are we willing to sacrifice for success? When do we stop living for ourselves and start merely existing?
We’re all here in this classroom today, filled with dreams and goals. But let me ask you: When does the desire to be successful stop pushing us forward and start driving us into the ground?
From the time we were little, we’ve been told that “If you work hard enough, you’ll make it.” But let me tell you the truth: hard work alone will never be enough. And it’s certainly not everything.
Think about your own life.
Who here has canceled plans with family or friends to study for an exam or finish an assignment?
Who here has felt that suffocating guilt for not being “productive enough”?
We all have. And it feels normal, doesn’t it? But here’s the thing: that mindset, that belief that if we just keep going, we’ll make it, it leads us to a dangerous place.
Because if we keep pushing like this, if we keep believing that we’re only worthy when we’re working, then one day, you might wake up—just like Li Wenjing—and realize you’ve given everything to a dream that wasn’t even yours. You’ve sacrificed your health, your happiness, your relationships—all for success that will never feel fulfilling. You might look around, and all you’ll see is emptiness.
The truth is, hustle culture sells us a lie.
It shows us stories of self-made millionaires, but it doesn’t show you how many of them had a safety net. It glorifies 80-hour work weeks but doesn’t tell you that exhaustion leads to depression, heart attacks, and an early grave. It makes stress feel like success, until we’re too burned out to even enjoy what we’ve achieved.
The worst part? We’ve been conditioned to think it’s normal. Especially with social media nowadays.
But success is not just about numbers. It’s not about titles or bank accounts. Success means having a life worth living. It means finding joy, creating relationships, and having the time and energy to appreciate it all.
And let me ask you: What kind of success are we aiming for?
When you picture your future, do you see yourself chained to a desk, your health deteriorating, your dreams slipping away, while you work to pay for a life that feels hollow? Or do you see yourself surrounded by love, passion, joy, and meaningful work that actually nourishes your soul?
Because success without well-being is a hollow victory. A victory that, in the end, costs too much.
The reality is this: we are not here to work ourselves to death. We are here to live.
And we should never forget that.
Because one day, it will be too late.
And then, you can’t turn back time.
Thank you.

10:27 "How will anyone hear me scream in a world this loud?" Mate this question broke me. This is the exact feeling I've been experiencing whenever I stopped to think.

I've focused most of my life on the goal of becoming a published graphic novelist. I've sacrificed pretty much everything for this goal.
Now that I'm 40 and still unpublished, I now know that A. the publishing world is deeply insular, and you need to either be already in the club or insanely lucky to get anything on the shelves, and B. the goal was a cope all along. I was an unwanted kid in a toxic family with undiagnosed mental disorders, so having a creative goal to focus all my pain and fear into kept me alive for decades.
Now that I don't need to cope anymore, I realise that the the goal doesn't have to be "THE GOAL". I can still create, but I shouldn't expect to ever see my work on a shelf. And that's okay.

Couple of things I disagree with, but most importantly, people on their death bed who regret working so hard, do so primarily because they feel they wasted their life doing meaningless work, that they take no pride in. Directed by societal norms they worked towards the wrong goals,  goals which were never truly their own. There’s a quote “a man who gave his best never regretted it” It matters that you give your best, and it matters WHAT you give it to.

The media really feeds us these extreme examples and we internalize that successful ppl got where they are because of their cruelty and narcissism, not in spite of it. So a whole generation of ambitious people ends up emulating the worst parts they see in their heroes. This video says it better than anything I've seen