life

Accolades and rewards become less and less the deeper you get into the game.

If you don't love the process, you become burned out because the results aren't as black and white as they once were.

Then you realize the game gets harder as you go along. So, winning the game becomes harder and the rewards are more abstract and less.

Meanwhile, you might be getting passed by peers or you scroll your feed and see influencers winning the game in ways that you aren't.

Becomes a mental drag that spirals into asking "what's the point?". 

Recipe for disaster if you don't love the process.