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
From what I’m getting, you see the end point of major goals other people had, and you wonder how you could ever do anything like that.
What you need to do is turn that into a main quest line. In a video game (most of the time) you don’t start with “kill the big boss and save the realm” but every little thing progresses you to that point. The first thing you get as a goal is something stupid simple and abstract like Equip your sword and block some arrows. Eventually all the little side tangents culminate in “Kill the Boss, Save the realm”.
So try to use that principle in your life. Ask yourself a question, what do I need to do right now to do “XYZ”, come up with two things that would help you accomplish it. Now ask yourself, of those two things, is there anything I can do within the next 5 minutes to make that happen. If your answer is no (let’s be honest it most likely is), split each of those tasks into two things that will help you accomplish that minigoal.
Eventually you will have broken the tasks in two enough times you can find your “Equip your sword, Dodge some arrows” and start crawling your way up that quest tree.
This is really something I’d like to try myself. You’re right that I’m just overwhelmed with the amount of stuff I can do and I don’t know where to start. I also need to change some of my habits as well, but maybe I can try to attempt at least, which to me is the hardest part
Don’t bite off more than you can chew.
If you need some perspective shift on habit formation I greatly suggest giving this video a watch.
I’ve tried to stop or cut back on my drinking for years, I’d always slip up and then feel bad about it, then slip even further in the trap.
That video itself changed the way I was viewing my situation and has literally changed my life organically in some short order.
No guilt, frustration, shame, anger, just acceptance.
Be kind to yourself