That's a really insightful observation. It's true, sometimes we get caught up in the idea that happiness comes from external things, like money or status, but the truth is, happiness comes from within.

... and why happy people aren't successful.

Like happiness, success is within, I maybe successful in my own way, which is different from society eyes. Like you have said, success isn't always about money and social status.

Lemme ask you this, there are two men, one with no steady stream of income, but has a family and have successfully trained all his children in all level of education, then there is the other with all the money in the world, but no family. If both dies, who do you think would be considered more successful?

So in all, just like we are to derive happiness from within, same goes for our success. We should understand that not every face is the same, so also is our paths. Therefore, we should focus on ourselves and achieve the little we can, which will we can record as our success. Not everyone can build mansions, not everyone can have private jets but all of us can be successful in our own ways.