1. How Social Media Changed the Meaning of Achievements
2. The Rise of Hyper-Independence
3. Why Being “Strong” Isn’t the Same as Being Connected
4. The People You Choose Become Your Life
5. The Makia Perspective
6. Conclusion

Success has always mattered, but this generation has amplified it. Success is no longer something that we create to feel whole within ourselves; it is something we measure constantly through other people’s lives . They are framed and visible for all to see.

Somewhere along the way, success became louder. More urgent. We learned to swap joy and love with independence and strength. Progress began to feel performative and stillness began to feel like falling behind.

In a world that rewards constant growth and connection quietly slipped into the background. Relationships became the secondary in our lives. Being “strong” started to mean needing less from others. Yet beneath all of the performance, many of us are still longing for something meaningful.

How Social Media Changed the Meaning of Achievements

This generation did not create ambition- it turned it into a broadcast.

With the rise of social media. Performance is all we see online, from how to grow a business into people posting just for views. The world has turned digital and are true relationships falling into the background?

Success today, is seen. It is not for your own self fulfilment anymore. It is how many people can I get to see that I am achieving something with my life and quiet progress feels invalid because it isn’t witnessed.

The Rise of Hyper-Independence

Hyper – independence is a word I have come across recently, Hyper-independence is an extreme, often trauma-rooted, need for self-sufficiency where individuals refuse to ask for or accept help, leading to severe difficulty relying on others, even when overwhelmed, because they believe only they can handle things, often stemming from past hurts like neglect or betrayal.

This generation quickly learned that security was uncertain in life, systems were fragile and relying on others could hurt us. So we adapted by becoming more emotionally contained and able to do things alone.

We were taught to be resilient, productive and low-maintenance to manage our emotions in the comfort of our own room. Over time, asking for help began to feel like failure and relaxation began to feel like a loss of control.

Hyper-independence is not the same as confidence. It is a defence mechanism for when our feelings have been invalidated from a young age. When being self reliant becomes the norm, it does not create freedom – it creates distance.

While hyper-independence stops you from being disappointed it also stops you from being deeply known.

Why Being “Strong” Isn’t the Same as Being Connected

Strength, the ability to cope, adapt and keep going. This became synonymous with endurance. Carrying pressure without showing it. But strength without connection is incomplete.

You can still be capable and still feel unhappy and alone. You can be resilient and still be unseen. Being strong often means you are aware of how to survive but having a connection means you are allowed to rest. One is about holding yourself together while the other is letting yourself be held.

When being independent and having strength is overvalued, vulnerability begins to feel unsafe. People become careful with emotions, truths and guarded in relationships. Conversations stay surface-level and that creates distance not because people do not care but because they aren’t aware how to feel that little bit vulnerable.

Connection requires something strength alone doesn’t teach: openness. It asks for honesty, presence and the willingness to be known in moments that aren’t impressive. It’s quieter than resilience and less visible than achievement but it’s what gives life depth.

Being strong keeps you functioning. Being connected makes you feel alive.

The People You Choose Become Your Life

This generation amplified success by treating relationships as optional add-ons. Love comes after career, community after stability, presence after productivity.

Today, we are so focused on getting the dream, the goal we want for ourselves in our hyper-independent way. That we sometimes forget what is important and what will never be taken away by how many likes we have is human connection. The relationships we choose in life- the connections we make- shape how we move through life . Help us to navigate how we feel. They help us navigate how we feel, reflect parts of ourselves back to us, and remind us we don’t have to carry everything alone. By letting someone in, you begin to realise that connection, not achievement, is the quiet foundation of happiness.

Success may shape our circumstances, but the people we choose shape our inner world and that is where life is truly lived.

The Makia Perspective

Lately, with the exploration within the self, the discovery of what was on the top of my mind for so long has been changed. Career was always my number one- finding a way it can work- being validated for my success.

I listened to a podcast by Jay Shetty and he said “When your 70 all that matters is the relationships you choose” that to me was a real eye opener.

Was I holding myself back in relationships?

Feelings were never, and still are not my strong point. There is apart of me that feels vulnerable with them. My last post The Creator’s Paradox: Why True Value Requires Radical Vulnerability. I felt a vulnerability, a feeling i have never felt before because I am so closed off.

Now researching this topic and learning more, is the reason to change and open up.

Conclusion

What I’ve realised through writing this is that success never truly asked to be amplified we did that ourselves. In trying to protect our independence, our ambition, and our sense of control, we may have quietly closed ourselves off from the very thing that makes life feel meaningful.

Hyper-independence can look like clarity, but sometimes it’s avoidance. Strength can look like certainty, but sometimes it’s fear of being seen. This generation learned how to survive exceptionally well, but survival alone isn’t the same as fulfilment.

Maybe the quiet truth is this: we don’t lose ourselves by letting people in. We find parts of ourselves we never had access to before.

Remember, it all starts with self love

-M