4 Birth Months Who Will Claw Their Way To The Top (And Feel It Wasn’t Worth It)

Climbing to the top sounds glamorous until you realize the view can come with sacrifices no one warned you about.

Research in career psychology shows that people who relentlessly pursue achievement sometimes experience something called “success disillusionment,” where reaching major goals doesn’t bring the satisfaction they expected because stress, pressure, and burnout quietly build along the way. Studies also suggest that redefining success to include balance and fulfillment can make ambition feel more rewarding instead of exhausting. Keep reading to see if your birth month made the list and discover what your drive toward success might really be teaching you about your priorities.

May

You thought you’d have more time to enjoy being in this tax bracket, but you are constantly tormented by the fact that work is occupying way more of your mental real estate than you ever planned. That ability to switch your brain off of work once that laptop closed at 5 o’clock is nowhere to be found. You’ve got the savings account, but no time to online shop in the middle of the day. You’re able to plan that vacation to Europe, but no amount of Aperol spritzes in Amalfi can help you shake the Sunday scaries. You thought you’d feel prouder, but for whatever reason you feel more vulnerable. You’re worried these achievements can be pulled out from under you at any time.

August

You have the charisma and personality to make it at anything, but you’re afraid turning your passion into your profession has sucked all the fun out of it. What you used to do for enjoyment and personal pleasure has become a full time obligation. You have to think about everything in terms of profit instead of preference and taste. There are the things you would do, the things you want to do, and then the things you have to do because your livelihood now depends upon it. There are so many aspects to this vocation you never considered, like a singer who never realized that touring is not their vibe. Now you’re stuck living on the road, except you feel like you’re just barely surviving where from anyone else’s perspective you should be thriving.

October

October natives, you’re too grounded to feel the rush of your own personal highs. You thought success would change you, and in many ways you were actively hoping it would. You thought you’d morph into a version of you that not only rubbed elbows with the people you look up to, but felt comfortable doing so. You expected a complete transformation from the way you look to the way you feel, but life in your skin feels just like it always has. You get up every morning and put your pants on one leg at a time. Your bank account is fuller, but you haven’t really changed your style of living, haven’t upgraded any aspect of your life from your wardrobe to the company you keep. The people closest to you respect that, but some part of you wishes you could ‘wow’ them instead.

September

You are just as, if not more irritated at the top of the food chain than you were at the bottom. The climb was a thrill, and more than mildly satisfying, but now that you’re here, you look around and don’t see much to admire. You don’t have a ton of respect for your colleagues, and thought they’d have everything much more buttoned up and under control. You realize that some people live the absolute opposite of the truism and “fake it til they make it”, leaving everyone none the wiser that they have none of the answers, and aren’t even paying attention to the questions. You’ve always had higher standards for yourself, but in peeking behind the curtain, you see just how much the system is broken, and whatever magic or mystery this pursuit once held is gone.