as a kid...going to be successful

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When you were younger, did you think you were going to be very rich and successful when you grew up?

I definitely did and everyone else I knew thought that about me too because of my specific talents and interests. However, once I grew up and graduated from highschool, I found this reality to be quite the opposite and I'm dissapointed and further more I find it very hard just to keep a minimum wage job. Did you feel that way too?

I thought things would get better when I grew up for quite a while, but its just gotten worse. I guess I kinda figured I'd figure out something I wasn't expecting to be very wealthy but I figured I'd find a job I like and make enough to get by living a rather simple life. I didn't know my mental state was going to go from bad to worse when I finally reached my 20s but such is life.

Yes, I was years above my classmates. I had meltdowns from boredom in my early school years. Everyone thought that little genuis was going to grow up to become an amazing doctor and cure diseases, or anything else she wanted. (Yes, I wanted to be a Dr, still wish I could.)

But oh how things change. It all blew up in my face. As my meltdowns got worse, the resulting abuse slowly killed that little girl's future.

I started school a year early and almost everything was a complete dawdle, until I was about 14. Then, the fact that I had difficulty concentrating and studying actually started to become a problem. But, I somehow managed to get by and ended up well within the top 10% and I went to uni. However, by the end of the third year, the social anxiety really started to kick in and I left, without completing my studies, with an ordinary degree. So, I ended up in a job that I could have done straight after school, with only high school certificates. In effect, I was actually behind those of the same age as me, who had gone through the training scheme and worked their way up the ladder. I remained stuck on the bottom rungs, until I left to have my daughter.

I never wanted to be rich or famous and I don't actually mind that I'm not wealthy at all. I'm very comfortable, financially, and that's all I want really. But, I would have liked to have done something that I felt was really useful or important or that people got some enjoyment out of. I am still young(ish) and I hope I've still got it in me to be a success, in some way or other.

While I was in my early teens, I was adamant that I was going to get into politics. Things didn't turn out that way.

Yeah same here, that or I was going to at least go to law school to understand all the legal crap so I could work in the system....yeah I was going to jump in there and fix things right up. It didn't quite end up like that, besides the only way to fight the system from the inside is to be good at playing the game but not wanting the game to go on guess I didn't fit the profile.

I kind of had the opposite experience myself.

When I was a kid people seemed to think I would never amount to anything. For a long time I never did. My mother would always worry over how I was not as good at certain things compared to other kids. I couldn't spell, write legibly, keep still, rote memorize, follow orders etc. No matter how I tried I couldn't seem to get great grades like my sisters could. It's funny though, when I got to university it was like someone switched a light on. I was so bad at conforming to other people's strict organization schemes, but left to my own devices I flourished. Meanwhile, for the first time in my life everyone else seemed to be falling behind.

Now I am working on my PhD, but when people ask me "Did you always think you'd do this when you were a kid?" I have to be honest and tell them that my highest aspiration most of my life was to just work part-time in a pet shop. I didn't think I was capable of anything else. All of those teachers and family members telling me all along that I needed component x y and z to be successful in life had me convinced that I'd have to settle. I guess they were wrong. Being a scientist isn't the life of riches and fame, but it's what I told my mom I wanted to do when I was 12. Her exact words to me at the time were "Oh dear, you're not smart enough for that."

I never really intended on being something when I was younger. Those thoughts were never instilled in me by my family or my school. To add to it, being the simple minded kid I was, there was not much that influenced me to the point of thinking "I want to be that, this is what I want to do", besides something silly like being a ninja, and too bad there are no jobs for ninjas, I am a good ninja! After over a decade of multiple types of abuse from family and bullying from my peers, I never really thought I would amount to anything, because that's how everyone would treat me, like I was nothing. I've grown up since then, gained a thicker skin and now I've just begun looking forward thinking about what I want to be. I think I have it figured out, I want to be involved in a profession that helps animals or people with mental issues in some way. I have somewhat recently come to the realization that becoming what I want to be regarding my occupation will probably be far more difficult than anything I have ever done in my life, and maybe anything that I ever do. I am up to the challenge though, so at least I have that. I won't ever give up chasing my dreams, but first I gotta start running! So far, I've just been warming up to the big race. It's taking longer than I hoped for, but at least I am still young and healthy.

Yes. Everybody expected me to become something great, like a doctor/scientist or a politician (even though I dislike politics). To be honest, they still expect me to achieve more than them and they seem to really think that I am very intelligent/gifted, but now we all know that I will at best be the eccentric rich guy with no friends. If I am still interested by then, I will probably try to become an amateur engineer. I will build robots and balloons in my backyard.

But I am confident enough to believe I can achieve my goals. I am working towards that.

I wanted to become a Hippie-Mod, pick up garbage for 2 hours and listen to The Kinks for the rest of the day.