For a few decades, I spent a great deal of time and effort trying to please particular subsets of people (teachers, employers, family, church, neighbors, etc.), while at the same time expecting other subsets of people to please me (people I managed, ex-wife, kids, friends that "owed me").

What a racket, full of disappointment.

Now, I choose how I portion my time and energy, without expectation. I get results from what I put my effort into, or lack of results where I don't put in effort. It's easy to be kind to friends. It's easy to invest in my happiness, health and fitness. The rest of the world is irrelevant.

Choose your focus. Put in the effort. Get some results. It's OK if it doesn't work out. Try again. You'll get there.