How freeing would it be to escape the rat race of self-promotion?  

According to scripture there are two dominant attitudes within culture; arrogance or meekness.  Which one you adopt is determined by which stream of wisdom you drink from.  Once again, there are two streams from which to drink.  Worldly wisdom which is man-centric, or Godly wisdom which is God-centric.  Shaping a worldview around yourself can only produce an arrogant attitude.  It seeks to promote one person above all else… you.  It seeks to benefit one person above all else… you.   In the end, all that’s left… is you.  But, shaping a worldview around God will inevitably lead to an attitude of meekness.  One which does not seek to promote one’s self, rather it seeks the wellbeing of others and the glory of God.  When you stop drinking from the world’s wisdom, stop seeing yourself and your happiness as the chief goal of life you will be free from a constant toiling for your own glorification, knowing that if God wants you promoted, he will see to it in his way and in his timing.  In the meantime, place your focus on Him.  Stop listening to the world, adopt a God-centric worldview, and live in meekness before God and man.