By Saurav Singh. 27/02/2026

I want to share something that I have seen happen way too many times around me.

You start liking someone. Maybe it is a crush, maybe it is something deeper, maybe you are already in love with them. And slowly, without even realizing it, you start shifting. You change your interests. You adjust your goals. You start showing up as a version of yourself that you think they will like.

And I get it. That feeling is real. When you are attracted to someone, you want them to see you. You want to matter to them.

But here is what I need you to hear, and I am saying this as someone who has watched this happen to good people around me.

Do not distract yourself from your goal for someone who has not even chosen you yet.

Because here is how this actually plays out. There are really only two ways this situation ends.

The first one is that you get them. You put in all that effort, you changed things about yourself, and somehow it works out. Okay. Fine. But even then, ask yourself honestly, did they fall for you, or for the version of you that was performing for them?

The second one, and this is the one that happens most of the time, is that it does not work out. Maybe you never even told them how you felt. Maybe you did and they said no. Maybe they just moved on without ever knowing what you gave up quietly in the background.

And that second case is where the real damage is.

Because then you sit with it. You look back and you start asking yourself things you do not want to ask. Why did I spend so much time on this? Why did I let my goal slip? Why did I keep choosing them over myself when they were not even thinking about me the same way?

That feeling is not heartbreak. It is something worse. It is regret.

Heartbreak heals. Regret has a way of sitting with you longer.

And I know what comes after that. You start thinking it is too late. That you wasted too much time. That everyone else is ahead of you now.

But listen, late is not the same as over. It never is. You can always start again. The only thing that is actually lost is the time you spent, and even that taught you something, even if it hurts to admit it.

I am not telling you to stop caring about people. I am not telling you that love or attraction is a distraction. That is not the point.

The point is this. Your goal belongs to you. Nobody else is going to carry it. Nobody else is going to wake up one day and hand you back the time you spent drifting. The person you are chasing right now might not be in your life in two years. But who you become, what you build, what you work toward, that is yours to keep.

So like people. Feel things. Let yourself be human.

Just do not hand over your direction to someone who has not even committed to choosing you.