Anyone else feel like ~99% of their life was kind of wasted? - eviltoast

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

  • like47ninjas@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Finding what makes you happy and focusing on making sure you’re unapologetically taking care of yourself is a good place to start.

    This goes for work, relationships, hobbies, friends, whatever.

    Can’t say I’ve always done a great job of it but for me it feels like it has made a difference the older I’ve gotten.

    And of course, social media (including lemmy) is horrible for self confidence so don’t binge if you can help it.