The Day Success Made Me Miserable

I spent years chasing a huge goal in my 20s.

Every sacrifice. Every 16-hour day. Every relationship I neglected. All pointing toward this one number that would change everything.

Then I hit it.

And felt absolutely nothing.

Not joy. Not satisfaction. Just... empty.

That moment became the most expensive education I ever received about how happiness actually works.

🎧 Listen now and discover why your brain is wired for progress, not destinations

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THE NEUROSCIENCE NOBODY TELLS YOU

There's a principle in psychology called the Progress Principle.

Our brains release massive hits of serotonin when we're making incremental progress. Not when we achieve goals. When we're actively moving toward them.

Think about when you were happiest in your business.

Probably not the day you hit your revenue target. Probably that month when you were growing 20% week over week, even if the numbers were tiny.

Happiness is the first derivative of progress. It's not about where you are. It's about velocity and direction.

WHY WOODWORKERS ARE HAPPIER THAN CEOS

People who turn raw lumber into furniture consistently test higher for happiness than executives.

Someone making $50,000 crafting tables is statistically happier than someone making $500,000 running a company.

Why?

The woodworker can touch their progress. Every day, the rough cut becomes smooth. The joint fits better. They literally run their hands over what they've built.

Meanwhile, the executive checks dashboards that barely move. Sits in meetings about meetings. Goes home wondering if anything actually changed.

One plays a game they can win daily. The other plays a game where winning is always quarters away.

THE DANGEROUS GAME WE ALL PLAY

Five years ago, you would have killed for the problems you have today.

The clients you complain about? You used to dream of having any clients.

The taxes you stress over? You used to pray for enough revenue to owe taxes.

Your 20-year-old self would think your boring Tuesday is the promised land.

But the second you achieve something, you normalize it. Move the goalpost. Start the misery cycle over.

Not because you're ungrateful. Because you think happiness lives at the next goalpost.

It doesn't.

WHAT SERIAL ENTREPRENEURS KNOW

Why do people who've already exited keep starting companies?

It's not money. They have plenty.

It's not recognition. They've already won.

It's because they're addicted to progress. To getting better. To the daily game of forward movement.

They know something most don't: starting is more fun than having started.

Building beats having built.

Becoming beats being.

THE SHIFT THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING

Stop measuring distance to your goal. Start measuring distance from yesterday.

Instead of: "I'm still $50K away from my goal" Try: "I'm $5K ahead of last month"

Same reality. Completely different neurochemical response.

Every night, write down one thing you improved. Not achieved. Improved.

• Made one more call

• Wrote one better email

• Solved one problem faster

You're training your brain to look for progress instead of gaps.

THE TRUTH ABOUT BIG GOALS

You should still have massive goals.

But not because achieving them will make you happy. Because pursuing them will.

The goal is just the North Star that keeps you moving. The happiness comes from the movement itself.

That huge goal I hit in my 20s? I don't even think about it anymore.

The person I became chasing it? I think about that every day.

The destination was worthless. The journey was everything.

WHAT TO DO RIGHT NOW

Pick one metric. Track your progress on it daily.

Not your distance from perfect. Your distance from yesterday.

Stop waiting for happiness to arrive with your achievement.

Find it in today's 1% improvement.

Because happiness isn't waiting at the finish line.

It's hiding in the progress you're making right now.

Here's to becoming over being,

Leo

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