I hope you find some peace. I don’t know what generation but if you are a zoomer, maybe this really is a shocking thing. Influencer culture is very alluring and I think for newer generations that didn’t have people explaining basic things about the world, it is very easy to believe social media influencers have discovered a new reality. Many of these influencers are what we used to call frauds and what they are selling is the appearance of a lifestyle, which they ultimately fulfill, many times, by influencers and not whatever method they are claiming. People that presented themselves as rich and sold get-rich-quick schemes, actually got rich selling courses.
Not all “digital nomads” are exactly like this but many of these self-proclaimed nomads are really doing consulting work. The word “startup” is just a hip way of saying “new business” and they have all the same problems that businesses have had since time immemorial. Most businesses fail. If it was really this easy to get rich in a startup, everyone would do it; it’s not like everyone is just totally stuck in the Matrix, as far startups go. The typical advice is to learn from your failures. I don’t know you or your startup abs don’t want to presume too much but it seems like you spent too much time buying into social media hype. Many people fail several times before they are successful or just give up. A lot of startups are risks; several big startups were just people that looked at existing industries and laws around them and asked “what would happen if we just break all those laws and regulations?” like AirBnB, Uber, FTX, etc. Some times it works out and sone times it doesn’t.
Maybe rather than looking at social media influencers, you should look at entrepreneurs that were successful in the past; not looking at vanity self-aggrandizing social media but look at biographies and post-mortems and try to understand real business.