The 3 Paths: The Hidden Truth About Success You Might Be Missing

Welcome to the Inner Edge, where I explore insights on wealth, fulfillment, growth, and mastery.

I used to think success was all about working harder or being smarter than everyone else.

But here’s the crazy part: it’s not.

Because I’ve seen people work themselves into the ground and get nowhere.

I’ve also seen others who barely seem to try and everything flows to them.

So, what’s the difference?

It’s not about how much you do. It’s about who you are while you’re doing it.

For the longest time, I unknowingly approached life in 2 ways.

Path A: Competing With the World

Path B: Keeping Everyone Happy

Turns out, both are losing strategies.

They both feel like they’re working at first.

But just take you further from the real success you’re chasing.

and here’s why…

Path A: Competing With the World

"This is the ‘I don’t give a crap’ approach.

It’s like when you were a kid, and your mom wouldn’t let you play outside.

You’d slam the door and run out anyway because you’re the main character and everyone else are just NPCs.

At first, it feels incredible. You’re on top of the world and you’re doing whatever you want. But deep down, you know something’s off.

You’re ignoring your own energy and the ripple effects of your choices.

To justify you tell yourself, ‘This is just who I am.’ But is it?

Eventually you sneak back in and face your mom. Then you say ‘sorry’ and the guilt catches up.

Soon things go back to normal (been there done that).

Now imagine living your entire life like that.

That’s the ticking time bomb of this path.

You start attaching yourself to fleeting things because you’re too scared to face yourself.

You keep running and hoping you’ll outrun the consequences.

But here’s the thing: the things you cling to will always crumble. They have to.

And when they do, so does your sense of self.

It’s like building a sandcastle on the shore.

You know the tide is going to come and wreck it. But then you pretend it’s not.

This path sucks.

Path B: Keeping Everyone Happy

This is the path where you spend your life making sure everyone else feels good.

You tiptoe around conversations and constantly wonder, “Did I do enough for them?”

It’s like when you were a kid, and you’d apologize for something that wasn’t even your fault or do something you didn’t want to do to please others.

You didn’t want conflict so you bent over backward to keep the peace.

Even though this meant holding back what you really felt.

At first, it feels like you’re doing the right thing.

Everyone’s happy and it seems like you’re in control.

But slowly, this path starts to drain you.

You start saying “yes” to things you don’t want to do.

You plan every move and try to predict how others will react.

You let their needs take priority over your own and tell yourself “I’m just being nice.”

But here’s the truth: this people pleasing chips away at who you are.

You lose touch with your own needs and your voice.

Eventually, you start to resent the people you’re trying to please—without even realizing it.

You tell yourself you’re doing it for them, but you know you’re doing it out of fear.

Fear of rejection or not being enough or similar.

This leaves you invisible to yourself and resentful of the world around you.

This path sucks too.

So then comes the third path.

One that doesn’t trap you in overconfidence or drown you in overthinking.

It’s a path that feels freer and infinitely more aligned.

And is the one that leads to success.

But before we get into it…

Let’s start by taking a deeper look at Path A and Path B.

Path A indications:

1. Over-attaching yourself to impermanent things: youth, looks, wealth, status etc.

2. Always feeling that you're right no matter what

3. Thinking you are better than everyone else around you

Where it leads you:

1. Over-attaching yourself to impermanent things: youth, looks, wealth, status etc. --> Soon the impermanent ceases to exist as all impermanent things do. This causes you to lose your sense of identity and ultimately suffer.

2. Always feeling that you're right no matter what. --> When you do something wrong, you justify it. You start going down the rabbit hole of thinking you are always right. You stop living in the truth and live in your own made up world. This causes you to lose touch of reality and ultimately suffer.

3. Thinking you are better than everyone else around you. --> You start seeing the world not as it is. You lose oneness with the the things and people around you. This causes you to feel isolated and ultimately suffer.

Well that wasn’t pretty.

Let's move on to Path B.

In this path, things feel better. Or at least, at first.

You start feeling like everything is a game.

You plan out your responses, actions and everything in between.

And then, life hits you.

Path B indications:

1. You're always thinking of what others think of you.

2. You over-accommodate for others.

3. You treat life as a zero-sum game (one person's gain = another person's loss).

Where it leads you:

1. You're always thinking of what others think of you/your words/your thoughts etc. --> You become trapped in a loop of self-monitoring. This starts subtly, and feels good at first. Soon it snowballs and now you're saying/doing things that aren't true to you whatsoever. In trying to please everyone, you lose yourself and ultimately suffer.

2. You over accommodate for others --> In order to make others happy, you erase yourself. You start bending backwards to make sure others feel good and in the process you become invisible. The more you do it, the more others expect you to do it. This makes you slowly start to resent others and yourself without even knowing it and causes you to ultimately suffer.

3. You treat life as a zero-sum game --> You see everything as a transaction. The more someone else wins, the more you lose. This creates unnecessary tension and competition. Over time, this belief isolates you, as others pick up on the guarded energy you project. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The people and opportunities you fear losing slip away because of your own energy which cause you to ultimately suffer.

Alright, so that was pretty depressing.

If you can’t focus on others and you can’t fully express yourself, then what’s left?

Fear not, there is another way.

I call it Path C: The Alignment Path.

This is the path I’m walking now—or at least trying to.

Path C isn’t about overconfidence or overthinking.

It’s about flow.

You stop forcing and start aligning. You don’t push or pull. You just are.

Life feels effortless living like this not because life suddenly becomes easy (spoiler: it doesn’t), but because you’re no longer fighting it.

What’s it like?

This is the “I’ve got nothing to prove” path.

It’s like being a kid playing outside.

You’re not trying to win. You’re not trying to impress anyone.

You’re just running and feeling alive in the moment.

You’re not keeping score and you’re not worried about falling.

You just trust everything around you.

Now I want you to imagine you’re at recess playing tag and you’re “it”.

Here’s how I’d describe the different paths:

Path A: You’d be running wild and tagging people just to show how fast you are. This causes you to barely enjoy the game because you’re too busy trying to win.

Path B: You’d hesitate every time you got close, overthinking whether tagging someone would upset them. What if they don’t want to play? What if they get mad? You stand there and the game moves on without you.

Path C: You’re fully in the game. You’re not overthinking who to tag or running to show off. You’re just present and fully alive in the moment.

It’s like when we were kids and built forts out of blankets and chairs.

You weren’t worried if it was social media perfect.

You weren’t trying to make sure everyone liked it.

You were just building it because it felt good and it was fun.

Now imagine if your whole life felt like that.

Path C is simple.

You stop trying to force the game to go your way, and you stop trying to make everyone else happy.

You just play.

And here’s the magic: when you just play for the heck of it, it becomes fun.

That’s Path C.

Life doesn’t feel heavy.

You’re not stuck in your head or driven by your ego.

You’re just here, enjoying the moment and creating as you go.

It’s not perfect. But it’s real. And that’s what makes it soo good.

Here’s how you know you’re in Path C:

1. Life feels effortless

2. You’re energized with or without connection

3. You see beauty everywhere

And here’s where it leads you:

1. Life feels effortless --> You are much more intuitive. You feel yourself making decisions that feel deeply aligned with you. Things flow and each moment is so awesome. You become very present and stop living in the past or future.

2. You’re energized with or without connection --> You love spending time alone. You feel a calm inner bliss. You also love spending time with others. You feel their energy and presence.

3. You see beauty everywhere --> The fleeting nature of life becomes a gift. You act from your higher self and find appreciation for everything around you. Knowing it will all one day fade makes it all the more precious. You honor it with gratitude and awe.

I've had some good tastes of this path, but still working on it.

But how do you get there?

I've found a few things that have helped me.

I'll try to give you more than just "meditate" or "pray".

1. Sit in nature and start feeling yourself becoming one with everything around you. You start losing touch of you and connect with something greater. Your thoughts quiet down and in that moment, you are pure presence. This leads to more lasting effects when doing regular day to day things.

   For example: You’re sitting by a stream. Your mind wants to start thinking about random stuff. Your girlfriend, that argument you had, what your friends are up to, or all the drama. But instead, you focus on the sound of the water flowing. Stay with that sound. It won’t feel easy at first because your thoughts will keep pulling you back, but keep trying. You’ll soon notice these little gaps where your mind quiets down. In those moments, you’re just there. That’s pure presence.

2. Observe and don't judge. Let things come into your orbit. Observe, but don't label them as good or bad. You will find this opens doors to deeper understanding.

   For example: Your friend starts gossiping about someone. Instead of jumping in or making assumptions about what they’re saying, just sit with it. Notice their tone, their energy, and what’s being said, but don’t judge them or the person they’re talking about. Don’t even judge yourself for listening. Just observe it all. You’ll find that when you step back like this, you can see things much more clearly. Oh and you won't get dragged into the drama.

3. Be present. With everything you do and everyone you talk to. Be there with them. Don't lose yourself in thoughts or distractions. Be as present as possible. Presence transforms even the simplest moments into something meaningful.

   For example: When your parents are talking to you, don’t plan your response in your head while they’re still speaking. Also definitely don't zone out (which I know is easier to do). Just listen to them. But really listen. Let the conversation flow naturally without forcing it. When you’re present, you'll notice even the most basic interactions can feel so deep and connected.

In Path C, there’s no struggle. Why? Because you’ve stepped out of the fight entirely.

You’ve removed all barriers by simply being.

If you’re an over thinker (I sometimes am), I’ll leave you with this:

I’ve spent so much of my life asking: What is the truth? What is real? And here’s what I’ve found:

I'm not sure if the truth is an answer. It doesn't feel like a destination or a concept you can grasp.

The truth feels like it just is.

It feels that the truth is presence.

It’s not in the past you replay endlessly.

It’s not in the future you’re trying to predict. It’s here. Now.

That’s all there is. That’s all there ever was. That’s all there will ever be.

Presence.

The moment you stop chasing, it reveals itself.

The moment you let go, it finds you.

It’s not something you need to create. It's what you already are.

That's when you realize: You’ve been carrying it all along.