Finally, the quote doesn’t require abandoning goals; it challenges the emotional contract we attach to them. You can still build a company, train for a marathon, or pursue mastery, while dropping the belief that your worth or peace depends on the next outcome.
When the sense of missingness loosens, effort becomes cleaner: you act from curiosity, craft, or service rather than from a felt deficiency. In that way, happiness is not the finish line of striving but the atmosphere that returns when striving no longer masquerades as a cure for inner lack. [...]
