Glenn Yong on achieving his showbiz dreams at 26: 'I feel like I lost my fire'
The Singapore actor confessed that it was hard to share this feeling of aimlessness with his friends because 'to them, he has everything'.
What happens when you’ve got everything you wanted and feel lost about what’s next in life? How do you even turn to the people around you for help and support when they might still be struggling?
Those were some of the issues local actor Glenn Yong faced when he was contemplating his next steps after achieving the goals he had set for himself when he entered showbiz.
On the latest episode of the R U Okay podcast with Jean Danker, released 4 Oct, the 26-year-old candidly shared how achieving “what he wanted to do” while he was only in his 20s “scared me a little bit”.
“I do not know what’s next,” he said. “And for someone like me who is really ambitious and always having a goal or a bucket list to chase after, all of a sudden, I have nothing to look forward to.”
Yong explained that this was a different version of himself compared to the past three to four years where he was this “super idealistic, super passionate guy”.
“Everyday I’m like motivated, but right now, I feel like I lost my fire,” he shared.
Is Glenn Yong happy?
The actor admitted that it feels like he’s “going through the motions” and not fully enjoying the process because he’s trying to maintain whatever he has right now instead of having a breakthrough.
Katherine Koh, the psychologist invited onto the show, then asked Yong if he feels happy after achieving what he wanted in his life.
Yong replied that he’s now on a “journey of self-love and self-care” as he had been hustling for the past two to three years and has neglected himself.
Koh then pointed out the work of fellow psychologist Shawn Achor, whose research showed how people are tying their happiness to their achievements.
“There’s this mantra right, you work hard, you get all these things, then you’ll be happy. You just suffer now. Then they just drill that into you, your life. But he says that it’s actually the reverse; and the minute you tie your happiness to your achievements, once you achieve that, you’re happy but it evaporates after,” she said.
This isn’t just happening in Singapore, Koh clarified, but it’s “quite prevalent” here.
Koh added, “I think that’s a lot of what you were feeling when you were lost.”
Not able to talk to people about his feelings
Yong also didn’t feel like he was able to tell people about what he was feeling.
He confessed, “The scary thing for me is how do I share this with my friends? How do I share this with people? Because to them, you have everything. You have everything you wanted. What is there to be unhappy about?
“So that creates a fear in me that I can’t share this with anyone because if I shared it with them, they’ll think I’m ungrateful or unappreciative of what I have. That really makes it harder.”
And, when he met with Danker at heiress Kim Lim’s birthday party in Bangkok in July, he was still trying to get himself out of this rut.
Now though, he’s in a better place and is able to reach out to his support system of family and friends.
He also shared that what he’s looking forward to now isn’t the next breakthrough, but “simple things in life” like dinners with family and friends.
“That’s funny because life really has a way of humbling you. You thought all the big things you’re doing right now could make you happy but that doesn’t define everything that you are. It is, at the end of the day, the relationships and who’s around you that matter.”
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