A false story of success

Andrea Huls
4 min readApr 23, 2024

You are only as worthy as what you can show off

Photo by Jordan Whitfield on Unsplash

Western society's message about success is clear. Money speaks.

Success in the Western world equals wealth, fame, luxury, travel, and ownership. Or at least, that’s what I see in movies, advertising, and social media.

Must we trust a system that measures our worth based on what we accumulate? How we look?

It’s all shallow. Hollow.

Not everyone believes this, of course. But we can not pretend we are not part of a world that capitalizes on our insecurities and believes in infinite growth.

As kids, teachers, parents, and motivational posters told us lies, not on purpose. They told us hard work would pay off. This is further from the truth than Pluto is from the Sun.

Millions of people work hard and still don’t manage to support their families or themselves. Some people will say, “Work smarter, not harder”. Those people are sitting on a pile of inherited wealth.

Most people born into poverty can’t get out of poverty. It’s not due to lack of ambition, passion, or hard work.

Others define success for us

Growing up, my family insisted I pursue a career to secure my future. My mental health has suffered because I…

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Andrea Huls
Andrea Huls

Written by Andrea Huls

Writer, documentary filmmaker, photographer, feminist, and mother. I write about mental health, women's issues, UX, and everything in between.

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