I'm 66 and I finally realized that I've spent my entire adult life chasing a version of success that my father defined in dollar amounts and job titles - and the reason I feel so empty now isn't because I failed, it's because I succeeded at building someone else's dream and called it mine - Silicon Canals

"The emptiness I feel isn't because I failed at the game. It's because I won at a game I never wanted to play in the first place."

"I absorbed all that like a sponge. Never questioned it. Just figured that's what men do—we work, we climb, we provide, we don't complain."

"Somewhere along the way, I stopped asking myself what I actually wanted. I was too busy trying to be the success story he never quite became."

"The stupid thing is, he probably would've been happy if I'd just been happy."

A man reflects on his life, realizing he has pursued his father's definition of success rather than his own. Despite achieving professional milestones, he feels hollow and unfulfilled. His father's emphasis on money and titles shaped his ambitions, leading him to work tirelessly in a trade he never truly desired. At 66, he recognizes that he won at a game he never wanted to play, and he wishes he had prioritized his own happiness over fulfilling his father's expectations.

Read at Silicon Canals