most people aren’t tired because they work too hard.
they’re tired because they work on the wrong things.

they chase approval. validation. imaginary success metrics.
they grind at jobs they hate, perform in friend groups they don’t even like,
stay in relationships that drain them
just to keep some fake version of themselves alive.

and it’s not that they want those things.
it’s that they don’t know who they are without them.

so they keep running.
more hours. more hustle. more “just one more thing and then i’ll be okay.”
but the finish line keeps moving,
and they don’t realize the real race is with themselves.

i see it all the time.
people who would rather be praised than at peace.
people who mistake obedience for purpose.
people who have no idea what they actually want
because they’ve never had the self-respect to stop and ask.

your worst sin is that you have destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing.

— nietzsche

nothing.
not even for a noble cause.
not even for survival.
just to be liked.
just to be seen.
just to avoid the silence of being alone with yourself.

because that’s what self-respect is —
it’s not a loud declaration.
it’s a quiet refusal.

no, i won’t betray myself to fit in.
no, i won’t waste my life chasing what i’m supposed to want.
no, i won’t build someone else’s dream at the cost of my own.

self-respect is when you stop negotiating your worth.
when you stop working for crumbs because you forgot what hunger is supposed to feel like.
when you stop doing shit for free —
free attention, free likes, free labo.

you can’t buy self-respect.
you build it.
and until you do, the world will keep offering you distractions that look like purpose.
and you’ll keep saying yes
until you finally learn how to say no.

and when you do —
you’ll scare people.
you’ll disappoint them.
you’ll lose friends, clients, gigs, comfort.

but you’ll finally sleep at night.
you’ll finally wake up without resentment in your throat.
and you’ll finally understand:

peace doesn’t come from finishing the race.
peace comes when you realize you never had to run.