From Chasing Credentials to Celebrating Existence

I realized there’s no need to stress so much about being certified, even though today’s world feels like a relentless race to collect certificates left and right. You start your early education eagerly awaiting that high school diploma, and when you finally get it, it feels like you’ve won something huge. But then you realize: that diploma is just the very first step in a world obsessed with certifications and specialization.

You’re not a professional yet, so you keep chasing higher education, more degrees, more certificates. Some fields demand not just a couple, but a constant accumulation of credentials just to keep up. And here’s the thing — every time you gain one, it feels like a victory. You feel accomplished, like you’re winning at life. Certificates do open doors and help build careers, no doubt. But in the rush to get them, we tend to forget one big truth:

You’ve already won the certificate race the day you were born.

We are so fixated on external validation that we overlook the original, most fundamental achievement — the very fact of being alive. The moment you were born, you earned the most precious certificate there is. That is the one that truly matters at the end of the day. I got my best certificate the day I was born, and so have you — simply by existing.

So why not live the rest of your life knowing you’ve already achieved the biggest award of all?

That doesn’t mean you should give up on your ambitions or stop climbing the career ladder. It’s just a reminder that you’ve already passed the hardest, most essential test. Now it’s time to turn inward and live for truth. Your very being — your existence — is the ultimate reason to celebrate.

We live in a world that often confines the senses, turning us into blind mules running a course laid out for survival, not fulfillment. To truly live, you have to awaken to deeper reality, savoring life beyond the checklist of achievements and external recognition.

The truth is, I’ve been chasing that road for far too long. After graduation, after earning so much, it still didn’t feel like enough. I wanted to become an authority in a special field. I dreamed of earning a master’s degree, then a PhD. I found myself so focused on academic success that I started to believe life would truly begin only when I reached the pinnacle — the biggest certificates, the highest honors.

But then it hit me.

I was stepping blindly into a world where academic success is a never-ending race — where you must win the biggest awards and become a household name to feel validated. I realized I was chasing celebrity status within a niche circle, a status that would take years of struggle with no guaranteed victory.

The competition is fierce. The stakes are high. I’m looking for success — but in the process, I forget that I’m already alive. And in that, I have already won.

I had lost the little dreams of awakening I grew up on and became lost in the world of academic success. The little moments that count — breathing in fresh air in the morning and letting your mind expand its horizons. Learning to enjoy living through creating environments where you succeed each and every time. Running daily tasks that build up and accumulate to create something orderly in your life that becomes self-sufficient over time.

You’re building a personal legacy that doesn’t require fame, celebrity, or even recognition beyond your own. Of course, it’s fulfilling to have a career that brings joy and meaning, knowing you’ve earned certificates that not many have the chance to gain. But what is a career without truly immersing yourself in your day-to-day living?

Your need for grandeur — whether academic or career-wise — doesn’t make you feel fulfilled at the end of the day alone. True fulfillment comes from knowing you’ve created your living space and enjoy the steady rhythm of your life. Learn to create your own tunes that tune you into the right frequency. Don’t be a survival mule; instead, gather a selection of hobbies and passions that create delightful memories to cherish when you’re wiser.

You don’t need the recognition of others or celebrity status. It’s a social status that recruits many but few achieve. Instead, think of becoming a community leader and leaving a legacy that matters to you and those close to you.