I don't own a business, a house or a fancy car

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^^ Yeah, once you have used a car to find your situation, you are hooked. BTW, when I lived in Toronto, which has excellent transit, I briefly had a downtown-airport commute that took two hours daily by transit, but a quarter hour less by bicycle. Bikes always win the inner-city races, which is why couriers use them. They also save all the time needed to get exercise elsewhere, pay for a car, find parking, and allow for traffic jams. On a busy day, they run faster to burn off the adrenalin before bedtime. Ivan Illich once did the sums for all the time required to use a car in his city, and found that they averaged 4 MPH - a brisk walking pace.

The only thing my family and I are "hooked" on is my six-figure salary.  We live in Anaheim.  Buena Park and Stanton are north and south of us, respectively.  Guess what industries dominate this fine metropolitan area?

That's right: Dining, Entertainment, Lodging, Retail, and Tourism -- all adversely affected by CoViD-19.

If I was willing to work for only $15 per hour (few or no benefits), I could work in Anaheim, Buena Park, or Stanton, but I would have to provide my own gloves, masks, and hand-sanitizer, even at Disneyland.

When the millionaires moved on my previous neighbourhood, I put gas in my car until I found a house for $15k. It only needed paint, and is two blocks from bank, hardware, pizza, groceries, drugs, clothes, library, & etc.

You have high standards. I do too. At near 50 I have learned to (better) be satisfied aside my continual striving.

At 27 I was homeless, with potential. My temporary housing was unavailable so I splurged for one night in a hotel, the cat was crying at a spider on the ceiling, it was my birthday and I cried and cried and cried. At 30 I was 1 year into my first "real" job. I then had a medical/life crisis for 10 years. Now approaching 50 I am surprised that I have done quite well for myself (considering), but still with potential! My earnings were moderate, but I saved and invested well. I still want to do "great" things... at this point my inspiration are all the artists and business owners who flourished after 60. That could be me! and if not, guess what, I am satisfied. I definitely would like more get-up-and-go power (EF). All in good time...

I don't eat fast food much, but was impressed by the large poster at KFC with Colonel Sanders long list of jobs and the age of his renowned success.

Wishing you well as you navigate what "success" is for you.

Success is as success does ............ it’s not always getting what you want right away sometimes a work around can help you climb the next step to where you think you might wanna be doing.

I think that like others have suggested, not having a business, house or fancy car doesn't matter as such. To my mind the only thing that matters in life is happiness in whatever shape or form you can get it. Reasonable freedom from physical (and psychological) discomfort, plus stuff to do or experience that makes you feel good. Just try to get that and make it sustainable and you should be fine. Of course if you can't get those symbols of success out of your mind then you'll be psychologically uncomfortable till you achieve them, but be careful what you wish for.

Running your own business probably gives a sense of independence and dignity that might be hard to get from being a mere employee at somebody else's beck and call, but it can also be quite exhausting, stressful and insecure. Customers can be as bossy as an employer, and at least an employer is usually bound by some rules, but customers can often refuse to pay you anything if they don't like what you're offering, and they aren't responsible for your health or working conditions.

Owning your own home has that same feeling of autonomy and even while paying a mortgage there's the comforting knowledge that your monthly payments are going towards something for yourself instead of into a landlord's pocket. But if anything needs fixing in your house, it's your responsibility and your expense, and house repairs can be very expensive. Insurance can help sometimes, if you can afford it.

I've never owned a fancy car. I suppose the attraction is having something flashy to show off, something that says "look how rich I am." Personally I don't care about that kind of thing, and I'd feel ashamed of myself for buying into that keeping-up-with-the-Joneses thing. I don't get anything visceral out of looking rich because I don't have any reverence for rich people. It might work as some kind of cynical way of tapping into the co-operation that might come from people who admire and defer to powerful people, but to my mind that's all a weird game played by people who have somehow lost the plot. So a car is just a way of getting from A to B in comfort, and possibly a means of physical security compared with walking about in a hostile area.

Feeling that one must have anything expensive is a symptom of being a victim of excess advertising. Never forget that the constant promotion of thin women makes it impossible for some of them to recognize that they are starving themselves to death. We lost Karen Carpenter that way. Don't be a slave to status games that can't leave you satisfied.