Estimated reading time: 14–16 minutes

Introduction: The Quiet Question After Success

Many people work for years toward a goal they believe will finally make life feel complete. A promotion. A degree. Financial stability. Recognition. From the outside, it looks like success has arrived. Yet internally, something feels off.

Instead of satisfaction, there is emotional flatness. Instead of joy, a sense of “Is this it?”

This experience is far more common than we like to admit. In positive psychology, it is often described as an achievement–fulfillment gap: the space between external success and internal wellbeing. Understanding this gap requires moving beyond traditional definitions of success and examining what actually nourishes psychological flourishing.

The PERMA-V model offers a powerful framework for doing exactly that. It helps explain why achievement alone is not enough—and how fulfillment can be rebuilt when success feels empty.

What You Will Learn

• Why external achievement does not automatically create fulfillment

• How emotional disconnection from success develops

• What the PERMA-V model reveals about sustainable wellbeing

• Which elements of wellbeing are often missing in high achievement paths

• Practical ways to recalibrate success toward deeper meaning and vitality

The Modern Success Paradox

We live in a culture that equates success with outcomes. Metrics dominate how achievement is evaluated: income, titles, followers, productivity, milestones. These indicators are visible, measurable, and socially rewarded.

However, psychological research consistently shows that objective success does not reliably predict subjective wellbeing. People often reach long-held goals only to experience:

• Emotional numbness rather than pride

• Relief instead of joy

• Pressure to maintain status rather than satisfaction

• A sense of emptiness once the striving ends

This paradox is not a personal failure. It is a structural mismatch between how success is defined and how human wellbeing actually functions.

Why Achievement Can Feel Emotionally Empty

Several psychological processes contribute to the disconnect between success and fulfillment.

Hedonic adaptation
Humans adapt quickly to improved circumstances. What once felt exciting becomes normal. The emotional boost from achievement fades faster than expected.

Conditional self-worth
When identity becomes tied to performance, success feels fragile. Achievement stops being nourishing and becomes something that must be constantly defended.

Delayed emotional life
Many people postpone joy, rest, and meaning until “after” success. When success finally arrives, the emotional muscles needed to experience fulfillment are underdeveloped.

Narrow definitions of value
Achievement paths often overemphasize productivity and status while neglecting connection, purpose, and vitality—core psychological needs.

The PERMA-V model helps make these invisible dynamics visible.

The PERMA-V Model: A Brief Overview

The PERMA-V model, developed within positive psychology, describes six essential dimensions of wellbeing:

• P – Positive Emotions

• E – Engagement

• R – Relationships

• M – Meaning

• A – Accomplishment

• V – Vitality

Traditional success culture focuses almost exclusively on Accomplishment. PERMA-V reminds us that accomplishment is only one pillar—and without the others, it cannot sustain wellbeing.

Accomplishment Without the Rest

Accomplishment refers to progress, mastery, and goal attainment. It matters. Humans are wired to pursue and complete meaningful challenges.

But when accomplishment becomes disconnected from the other PERMA-V elements, it turns hollow. Research shows that achievement contributes to wellbeing only when it is integrated with purpose, relationships, and intrinsic motivation.

High achievers who feel empty often have strong “A” but weakened foundations elsewhere.

Positive Emotions: The Missing Signal

Positive emotions are not superficial rewards; they are psychological signals that something is nourishing us.

When success feels empty, positive emotions are often scarce or short-lived. This can happen when:

• Achievement is driven by pressure rather than interest

• Goals are pursued to avoid failure, shame, or comparison

• There is little space to savor progress

According to Fredrickson’s broaden-and-build theory, positive emotions expand perspective, creativity, and resilience. Without them, success becomes narrow and emotionally thin.

Recalibration begins by asking not “What did I achieve?” but “What emotions does my way of achieving generate?”

Engagement: Success Without Absorption

Engagement refers to being deeply involved, absorbed, and mentally present in what we do. Flow states—where time seems to disappear—are a key expression of engagement.

Many people achieve impressive outcomes while feeling disengaged throughout the process. This often occurs when:

• Work is driven primarily by external rewards

• Tasks feel misaligned with strengths

• Autonomy is low

When engagement is missing, achievement feels mechanical. The outcome may look successful, but the process drains rather than energizes.

Fulfillment depends less on what is achieved and more on how we are engaged while pursuing it.

Relationships: Success in Isolation

Achievement paths often prioritize independence, self-sufficiency, and competition. Over time, relationships can become secondary or instrumental.

Yet decades of research confirm that supportive relationships are one of the strongest predictors of life satisfaction and longevity. Success achieved in isolation frequently feels empty because it lacks shared meaning.

Signs that relational wellbeing is undernourished include:

• Celebrating achievements alone

• Feeling unseen or misunderstood despite success

• Difficulty being vulnerable

Reconnecting success to relationships transforms achievement from a solitary outcome into a shared experience.

Meaning: When Success Lacks Direction

Meaning refers to belonging to and serving something larger than the self. It answers the question, “Why does this matter?”

Success without meaning often feels disorienting. Goals are achieved, but they do not anchor identity or values. People may feel successful yet disconnected from a deeper sense of purpose.

Meaning does not require a grand mission. It can emerge from:

• Contributing to others

• Acting in alignment with values

• Seeing one’s work as part of a larger system

When achievement is aligned with meaning, it feels rooted rather than empty.

Vitality: The Overlooked Foundation

Vitality refers to physical and psychological energy. It includes sleep, movement, nervous system regulation, and overall aliveness.

Many high achievers sacrifice vitality in the pursuit of success. Chronic stress, exhaustion, and burnout erode the body’s ability to register satisfaction.

Without vitality:

• Positive emotions are muted

• Engagement is harder to access

• Relationships feel demanding

• Meaning feels abstract

In PERMA-V, vitality is not optional. It is the biological foundation that allows success to be felt rather than merely recorded.

Recalibrating Success Through PERMA-V

When success feels empty, the solution is rarely to achieve more. Instead, it involves rebalancing the system.

Practical recalibration begins with reflection rather than drastic change.

• Which PERMA-V elements feel nourished by my current definition of success?

• Which feel neglected or depleted?

• What would success look like if it supported multiple dimensions of wellbeing, not just accomplishment?

Small shifts—such as designing goals around values, rebuilding relational rituals, or protecting vitality—can radically change how success is experienced.

Redefining Achievement as Integration

Sustainable success is not about abandoning ambition. It is about integrating ambition with wellbeing.

From a PERMA-V perspective, success becomes:

• Emotionally resonant, not emotionally neutral

• Engaging in process, not only rewarding at the finish line

• Relationally connected, not isolating

• Meaning-aligned, not value-confused

• Energetically supportive, not depleting

When achievement is integrated rather than isolated, fulfillment follows more naturally.

Conclusion: Success That Feels Like Something

Feeling empty after success does not mean you chose the wrong goal. It often means you were taught an incomplete model of success.

The PERMA-V lens invites a more humane definition—one that honors achievement while recognizing that humans thrive through connection, meaning, engagement, emotion, and vitality.

When success includes these dimensions, it does not just look good on paper.
It feels like something on the inside.

References

• Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being. Free Press.

• Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226.

• Diener, E., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2008). Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth. Blackwell Publishing.

• Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness. Guilford Press.

• Niemiec, R. M. (2018). Character Strengths Interventions: A Field Guide for Practitioners. Hogrefe.