There is an illusion and a common misconception that time goes by faster as an individual gets older.

According to psychology, it happens because older people tend to view their memories from a retrospective vantage, where they focus on their past memories in the present.

As such, they think that their younger years seemed to have passed by too quickly.

But the present still stands. The skills developed during a lifetime have finally come to fruition, and more opportunities are being presented each day.

Our hard work, sacrifices, failures, and challenges have all amounted into one single concept: success.

“Success is what defines us.”

It is a common quote that motivates the already successful to keep themselves at the top.

Success isn’t necessarily the consistency to stay at the top, but it can better be described by the next quote.

“What defines success is how well we rise after falling.”

Throughout one’s business and career, everyone is bound to encounter all different kinds of obstacles that obstruct them from achieving their goals.

Success can even attract envious and selfish people whose only purpose is to take away everything they have accomplished.

The competitive nature of people is to take down anyone who they consider as a threat.

A successful individual can even turn on themselves–and destroy their own achievements.

The desire to make everything seem perfect grants the unnecessary need to dispose of everything that even seems even a bit disadvantageous.

Imagine yourself being in a successful corporation–oftentimes, companies go bankrupt when they fail to meet the expectations of their investors, but that is entirely because you, as its executive, might have been too focused on financial incentives.

It may seem that the goal you have worked on for decades was finally within your reach, when in reality, it was only another illusion that tricked your perception of progress.

If you lose everything you have, then your pursuits may have been pointless all along.

But, who's to say that success can only happen one time?

Being consistent is important for our success, but we mustn't let it tempt us into making various half-assed decisions.

You may already know, at this stage, you mustn’t let anyone take it away from you. You’ve earned it, and you deserve it.

You are in complete authority of your own life, so don’t let anyone influence you too deeply.

Being successful is already a constant pressure in itself, but it is also important for us to be happy, motivated, and content with what we have. That way, we can truly feel like we have succeeded.

This was just a snippet of imagination that I gave you.

It may not necessarily be true right now, but all it takes is one small step for you to be closer to your goal.