How can you know what goes on in their lives though? Maybe they're bored or bitter or lonely or even suicidal? $500k a year alone does not do much for your well being.
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.
