What? Notwithstanding what?
Meaning, without meaning, that despite being self aware we are who we are, love whom we do and so on.
Having got past that, what of the fact that self improvement is a myth? Or rather, self improvement refers to one’s own assessment of what one is and what one wants to be.
The irony is, nothing changes, only our point of view. The joke is on us.
Who has the last laugh?
That depends on your point of view.