The most famous people in history at least until the mid-20th century were all politicians, generals, along with a sprinkling of rich people, artists, and intellectuals. There weren't really famous people from any other category before then. Today, the most famous people are politicians, rich people, actors, musicians, and athletes. At least we have some more variety now.
And what does all that fame get them? Mainly criticism and a lack of privacy. You have a lot more freedom as non-celebrity as only a small group of people even know what you say and do, much less care about it. In any case, fortune and fame often go together. It's hard to get one without ending up with a lot of the other. Money and power always find each other, hence the intense competition to succeed in politics.
When I was younger, I had dreams of somehow making it into the history books and thus achieve a sort of immortality. It took a long time for me to realize how foolish I'd been. Pursuing excellence is good, but it's best not to go much further than that. It takes wisdom to understand that having enough is better than having too much. It's best to make peace with the fact that we will all be forgotten within a century or so of our demise unless we were exceptionally prominent in the areas historians judge as important.
A wise ancient Roman said: if glory comes after death, then I am in no hurry.
The lives of lottery winners before and after winning shows that sudden riches are quickly lost, and this is true as well for highly paid athletes and celebrities. A better goal is to become what I call comfortably poor. By that I mean, having enough money to pay for all your needs with little to no income. Of course, this is easier when you live frugally. That mainly entails not having expensive habits or tastes.
In the end, the only thing really worth having besides health is freedom.
Thucydides said: the key to happiness is freedom and the key to freedom is courage. That might be the wisest thing anyone's ever said.
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