Most status games are won by people who forgot to ask if they wanted the prize.

Competitions are easy to enter by accident. Grades, followers, rank, job titles: each arrives with a scoreboard already running, and climbing one feels like purpose because the feedback is immediate. The question skipped at the start is whether the thing waiting at the top is something you wanted.

Pick one scoreboard you are currently playing on and ask what winning would actually get you. If the honest answer is other people’s approval, decide whether to keep playing knowingly or quietly step off.