In a world where success is often equated with outward accomplishments—like a high-paying job, owning property, or achieving personal milestones—many young people find themselves struggling to measure up. Social media feeds are flooded with success stories that often highlight rapid growth, luxury lifestyles, and quick accomplishments. It’s easy to feel like you’re falling behind when your life doesn’t seem to follow the same trajectory. However, there is power and strength in survival. Sometimes, simply being able to meet your basic needs—like having food on the table or being able to pay rent—is a victory in itself.
Survival, especially in today’s fast-paced world, can be the first and most important form of success. While it’s natural to desire big achievements, it’s also essential to recognize that getting through difficult times, handling daily responsibilities, and persevering, even when life seems stagnant, are no small feats. For many, surviving these struggles is, in fact, winning.
The Struggles of Youth
The struggles young people face today are unique in many ways. There is an overwhelming sense that time is slipping away faster than they can grasp it. They are expected to have their lives figured out—career paths, personal goals, relationships—by a certain age, yet many feel like they are just trying to catch their breath. The pressure to find the right job, establish a career, build meaningful relationships, and live up to societal expectations can be daunting.
Moreover, the fear of falling behind often looms large. The constant bombardment of success stories on social media—where peers seem to be excelling, building businesses, getting promotions, traveling the world—can leave young people feeling inadequate. It’s easy to think that survival, in the face of all this, is somehow a lesser achievement.
But surviving doesn’t mean staying stagnant or giving up; it means finding ways to keep going even when things seem uncertain. It means understanding that it’s okay to not have all the answers, to take one step at a time, and to be patient with oneself.
The rapid passage of time can feel suffocating when you’re trying to make something of yourself. Young people often feel as if they are behind their peers or that their personal growth is moving too slowly in comparison to the world around them. This psychological tension between a fast-moving world and a slower, more deliberate pace of individual life can create an immense sense of frustration and confusion.
Take, for example, the experience of finding a job. The hunt for a career can be exhausting and disheartening, especially when faced with rejection after rejection or the pressure of competing against a multitude of qualified candidates. For young individuals just starting out, the feeling that time is slipping away while opportunities are few can make survival seem like the only victory. And in many cases, just surviving—getting through the job search, securing a position, and learning on the go—is in itself a monumental accomplishment.
Redefining Winning: Small Wins Matter
Winning is often defined by tangible successes like promotions, accomplishments, or recognition. However, there’s another kind of winning—the quiet, daily victories that don’t make headlines but are equally important. For some, winning means showing up for work on time every day, even when it feels like they’re stuck in a rut. It means making sure their rent is paid on time despite facing financial challenges. It means finding a way to manage mental health, even when anxiety is high, and continuing to move forward.
When it feels like life is moving too fast and your ambitions seem hard to achieve, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that the basics are, in themselves, victories. Many people, particularly the younger generation, are grappling with feelings of inadequacy because they don’t meet the traditional markers of success. But the ability to handle daily tasks, maintain your well-being, and stay afloat, is a huge achievement. Sometimes, winning is as simple as keeping the basic things in balance.
One of the most important things to remember during tough times is to be kind to yourself. Young people often place excessive pressure on themselves to be “perfect” or to achieve success on a certain timeline. But the reality is that life rarely works according to our expectations. And that’s okay. You are allowed to take your time. You are allowed to rest and recharge. You are allowed to go at your own pace.
Surviving the chaos, making it through difficult moments, and managing the day-to-day responsibilities of life, without giving up, is a huge achievement. If you are able to feed yourself, pay your rent, and keep going despite the challenges, you are winning. Acknowledge these small victories and give yourself credit for them. Being too hard on yourself will only make the journey harder.
Surviving is, in fact, a form of winning. For many young people, especially those facing overwhelming challenges, the ability to manage the basics—food, shelter, and self-care—is a powerful victory. While the world may tell you that you must achieve grand accomplishments to be successful, the truth is that getting through the tough times and keeping your head above water is no small feat. Embrace these victories, be kind to yourself, and remember that surviving is the first step toward thriving. Sometimes, simply making it through is the greatest win of all.
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