True glory strikes root, and even extends itself; all false pretensions fall as do flowers, nor can anything feigned be lasting.

A reputation built on something real keeps growing without maintenance, because people go on finding the thing that earned it. A reputation built on presentation needs constant feeding and dies the moment the feeding stops. That is the practical difference between them, and it explains why one feels effortless and the other exhausting. Anything pretended has to be pretended again tomorrow.

Ask whether the good opinion you enjoy rests on work somebody could check. If it does, stop managing it and go on doing the work. If it does not, quietly start building the thing you have been describing.