From just what you've written, it seems that this has more to do with your measure of success rather than success itself. You're looking for external factors to

From just what you've written, it seems that this has more to do with your measure of success rather than success itself. You're looking for external factors to validate your success - Twitter followers, salary, names of companies on your resume. Ultimately, you have no control over whether someone decides to follow you on Twitter, hires you, or offers you an awesome salary/decides to invest in your startup. Sure, you can do all sorts of things that will motivate others to do those things, but that's not ultimately in your hands. I think you would be better served if your measure of success came from within. What do you want to do? What goals do you want to accomplish? Which of those are in your power to do? I can make an awesome web app, but I can't make someone buy a subscription to it.