Recently, I have been reflecting on the life of my grandmother, Winifred. She grew up in rural Ireland and, sometime after the end of the First World War, boarded a boat bound for England to begin a new chapter of her life.
I often wonder what she, and others of her generation, were striving for. What did success look like to them? What hopes and dreams shaped a life well lived?
My guess is that the list was surprisingly simple: a full pantry, healthy children, a warm, dry home, and weekends spent with the people they loved.
I doubt my grandmother spent much time worrying about renovating her kitchen, redesigning the garden, wearing the latest fashion, or cooking dinner from a meal kit designed by a celebrity chef.
Yet somewhere between her generation and ours, we were sold a different idea—that whatever we have is never enough. We were encouraged to believe that happiness lies just beyond the next promotion, the bigger house, the newer car, the dream holiday, or the spa weekend to recover from the exhaustion of chasing it all.
But what if you can have everything you once thought you wanted and still feel that something is missing?
What if there’s a constant, nagging sense that you’re falling behind in a race you never seem to catch up with?
Perhaps that’s because the race was designed to never end.
And maybe the real problem isn’t what we’re pursuing, but the order in which we’re pursuing it.
Compared with my grandmother’s generation, we live in one of the most comfortable periods in human history. Yet many of us spend our lives chasing goals that never truly satisfy.
Viktor Frankl, in Man’s Search for Meaning, reminds us that the deeper question is not how successful we appear, but whether we are becoming the person we were created to be.
Are you building a life that impresses other people, or a life that fulfils your deepest purpose?
Those are not always the same thing.
One is driven by approval.
The other is driven by meaning.
One creates temporary satisfaction.
The other creates lasting significance.
True success doesn’t come from having more. It comes from putting first things first—placing purpose before possessions, people before prestige, and meaning before material success.
When we change the order, we often discover that the race we’ve been running no longer needs to be run at all.
What race are you running and is it leading you towards the life you truly want?
The day you stop racing is the day you win the race.
– Bob Marley –