Man, your issue is not that you do not have enough external validation, it's that you crave it so badly. I guarantee you achieving your concrete goals would not

Man, your issue is not that you do not have enough external validation, it's that you crave it so badly. I guarantee you achieving your concrete goals would not make you happy -- you would just move the goalposts. I would really recommend therapy as a way to understand and reframe the desire for external validation.