In the last year or so I started to see so many people of my age that have done truly incredible things and still doing more.
For the vast majority of my life my only goals were gettimg academic satisfaction and doing unproductive stuff in the free time to get temporary pleasure. No end goal whatsoever.
I kind of don’t know what I’ve been doing in the last 17 years while someone gets a patent on solar systems, other invents a new recyclable plastic, and another found a successful startup. I mean, they all find what they’re supposed to be doing with their lives and excel in them.
I feel overwhelmed for trying to pace up with these kind of people. Yet I don’t like the way the things are and I can’t do anything but envy those people.
Anyone with experience in this regard? How did you deal with this? Did you eventually “pace up” with these people or was it too late or an unattainable goal?
Edit: Whoops, I didn’t expect so many replies! Thanks, I’ll look into them all
I think it’s completely healthy to want to better yourself and look at the examples of people around you, but remember that you’ve placed yourself in this group and as you grow you’ll place yourself in new groups with a new set of coworkers/friends/colleagues and some of them will outpace you. I found I was continuously stacking myself against the people around me in my career, and as I grew I would stack myself against a new set of people on the next “level”, which made me lose sight of my own overall growth. It definitely drove me forward and overall it seems to have worked out, but as you grow just make sure to take some time to reflect on your accomplishments.
Yes, I wish I could surround myself around such people more and more, it just helps you see things so much clearer. I’m still “looked up on” by most people around me and it actually pisses me up. Why are you telling me I’m doing very good, I’m the best etc.? It doesn’t help me grow at all!
I think the truth is probably somewhere in between how you view your accomplishments and how the people around you do. It sounds like you’ve made great academic progress, but you obviously haven’t finished growing yet. I wouldn’t consider that time wasted, just time for the next step, and you’ll be surprised at how much of a leg up your previous experience is going to give you. Best of luck dude!