You Cannot Make Everyone Happy

You cannot make everyone happy, except yourself.
That’s just a fact of life.
Does everyone get this, though? Eh… debatable.

Because if you’re a decent human being, chances are you want to make the people around you happy. Something is fulfilling about it. A tiny hit of dopamine. That warm glow of “I did a good thing.” It gives a sense of purpose or at least the illusion of one.

However, here’s a plot twist for you: trying to make everyone happy usually ends with no one being happy. Especially not you.
I don’t know exactly why people-pleasing is wired into so many of us, maybe it’s childhood, societal conditioning, or maybe it’s just that one time someone clapped when you overextended yourself and your brain went “Nice, let’s do that forever.”
Whatever the reason, people-pleasing rarely ends well. In fact, it often backfires. Slowly. And then all at once.

Whether it’s relationships (friends, family, or the complicated romantic genre), job hunts, or startup pitches, no matter what you do, someone, somewhere, will not be impressed. And that’s not always their fault. Everyone’s entitled to their opinions, but that doesn’t mean you are automatically to blame because you didn’t meet their expectations. You’re not a vending machine of joy programmed to spit out happiness on demand.

After dozens of job rejections, a few heartbreaks, and more than a handful of disappointments, I’ve learned this the hard way: no matter how much I improve, it still might not be “enough” for someone else.
And eventually, I realized, maybe it’s not supposed to be.

When I started doing things for myself, like improving my health, nourishing my peace, it had this beautiful ripple effect. I became happier. I showed up better. And those who mattered noticed. Not because I was trying to please them, but because I was finally being myself.

Setting boundaries stopped feeling like a scary thing and started feeling like a life upgrade. I stopped blaming myself when things didn’t work out. Maybe the company was looking for someone else. Maybe that partner wanted something different. Maybe, just maybe, that startup pitch didn’t land because the investor had other priorities. Who knows? The point is, not everything is in your control, and not everything is a reflection of your worth.

All I do know is this – I showed up. I tried. I did my part. And that’s enough.

You literally cannot make everyone happy.
But if you can make yourself happy and hold space for others without losing yourself in the process, that’s more than enough.

And the bonus? When you’re genuinely happy, it rubs off. Real joy is contagious.

So go on. Choose peace over people-pleasing. Choose growth over guilt. Choose you.
Everyone else will be fine. (And if they’re not, that’s their homework.)