When you look closely at the lives of the people most admired—movie stars, athletes, public figures—you start to see that many of them live inside a beautifully decorated cage. The things most of us take for granted—going to the grocery store, walking down the street unnoticed, owning our time—are luxuries they can no longer enjoy. Fame gives them visibility, but it takes away the freedom of simply being unseen.
Observe their lives long enough and you notice something else: much of what they do may not be what they truly want. They might have chased this life relentlessly in their youth, only to discover later that its price is far higher than they ever imagined.
Everything has a price, even if you don’t see it right away
Most decisions you make when you’re young feel harmless, and many will fade into irrelevance. But some choices quietly set a trajectory that becomes incredibly difficult to reverse, no matter how hard you try later.
Certain decisions are like the Titanic’s final course toward the iceberg—once enough momentum builds, turning back becomes almost impossible.
There comes a point when you realize that your choices, once set in motion, develop a force of their own. Time compounds consequences. Just as the officer who spotted the iceberg couldn’t undo hours of previous decisions, you can’t erase years of accumulated direction in your own life. The ship had to pay the price of earlier recklessness despite desperate attempts to avoid disaster. More than a thousand lives paid the ultimate cost.
In life, the consequences are rarely as dramatic, but the principle remains: some decisions reveal their true price only when it’s too late to turn back.
The Right Place Might Be Somewhere in the Middle
What people really want is recognition, security, and comfort—things provided by money, competence, and the feeling of being respected by peers. If someone becomes a movie star, it might simply be because they love acting and the glamorous lifestyle that comes with it. But despite those brief moments of public praise and critical acclaim, the daily life of a movie star is far from enviable. First, there’s the pressure to be liked by the public and by people in your industry who may want to collaborate with you. Why do you think so many beautiful movie stars still get surgery?
You no longer completely own who you are: you now have a public identity, and you’re expected to maintain it. You could argue that this is true of any job, or even of being a parent or spouse—you still have to meet expectations, don’t you? Yes, but when you’re famous, you have a much wider audience to answer to. There are thousands, even millions, of little “bosses” who want something from you. To gain comfort, recognition, and security, you may sacrifice something even more precious: your freedom.
Once you become famous, there is essentially no turning back. Even if you decide to “leave the boat,” you have no real way to erase your past—unless you disappear entirely and live far from society.
Avoid the Subtle Traps That Come Disguised as New Trends
We all crave recognition from others, especially from our peers in the same field. However, this attitude can be detrimental to our personal and spiritual growth. When you seek human validation, you risk being distracted from God’s validation and from the path meant for you. In that sense, pursuing an “influencer lifestyle” can become a major obstacle to deeper, more meaningful progress. That’s why I would advise people to be deeply rooted in their spiritual path before attempting to gain “influence.” Such grounding takes years to develop—unless one is born enlightened or already spiritually advanced—so it requires a period of solitude and anonymity beforehand.
A Few Decisions Dramatically Shape Your Future
Where You Live
You can’t choose where you were born—your parents made that choice for you. But as you grow older, you gain the power to choose where you want to live. That power isn’t distributed equally; it depends on money, obligations, and opportunities. Still, most of us have some influence over the environment we place ourselves in, even if the margin of choice is small.
Where you live shapes your mindset, habits, opportunities, network, and ultimately the direction of your life. Your environment becomes the backdrop of your future.
That’s why it’s worth exploring different places and settling where you feel most aligned—either where you feel at ease or where the people inspire you to become the best version of yourself.
If you want to change, it’s far easier to move to a place that naturally nurtures your better qualities than to struggle against an environment that resists your growth.
This is one of the first principles of success: surround yourself with the kind of people you want to become. It’s difficult, but often far easier than attempting to grow alone or among those who pull you backward.
What Career You Choose
Your career shapes you just as powerfully as your environment. You become what you repeatedly do. A career isn’t just a set of tasks—it’s a long-term identity you perform every day. If you spend ten years as a doctor, an engineer, an artist, or an entrepreneur, you will eventually think, act, and even carry yourself like one. Choosing a career is, in many ways, choosing who you will become.
Of course, most people today will change careers multiple times because of shifting desires, economic pressures, or technological disruption. We may play different roles throughout life. By changing our path, we may eventually become the person we always wanted to be.
But the longer you travel down a path, the harder it becomes to change direction. Not impossible—just harder. Momentum works both for us and against us.
Whom You Marry
You may say we no longer live in a world where people bother to marry. Yet if you want children, it remains important to choose their father or mother thoughtfully. That’s why it’s a no-brainer to carefully select the person with whom you’ll share a lifetime of responsibility for your children—even if divorce eventually occurs. Values, vision, and a shared sense of direction should align with this partner to ensure you can guide your children in the direction you believe is best for them.
