One secret is: they are achieving nothing and have no idea what they are doing.
For many, they are following a path prescribed by their culture. That makes it a lot easier. There is not a need to question, really. If you add in stable social support, they may not often question it. A lot of hardship will be cultural, like lack of money. So the thing to do for them is: make more money. Those that end up 'succeeding' at that may not be compelled to look outside the cultural lifepath for alternative meaning and coping mechanisms.
You are as worthy as any other. Do not worry about missing on what other people think is important. That may be why things do not make sense. It really does not make sense, they just adopted a culture that said something was important and lack of it is missing out.
Do not let getting caught up in other people's 'achievements' and care-abouts, which are not deep convictions and change like the wind by the way, cause you to miss out on what might be important to you. That is the hard part, finding what (if anything--for me there is not much other than the relationship I destroyed) is important to you. It could be anything really. For me having a morning cup of coffee is one of the few things keeping me alive for now, and I barely enjoy it. But it is as important as some random asshole's credentials plastered on a wall in a shitty office in some corporate building.
