[discussion] Can someone who has historically been unproductive / aimless, become high achieving?

Asking for a friend……(me)…

Background: solid student, had “potential,” etc. But difficulty choosing one path and committing, a lot of diverging interests.

Then, one parent received a terminal diagnosis and passed after a really long and brutal decline. Then six months later my other parent became severely ill—schizophrenia—and I graduated college, becoming a caretaker.

Now it’s been five years (I’m 27 now) and I’ve been a caretaker through a lot of ups and downs navigating the mental health system. I don’t have anything “real” on my resume. I honestly haven’t accomplished much. I’ve learned a bit about some of my random interests but don’t have much to show for it.

I used to have big dreams and I wished to go to a competitive graduate school but these recent years have derailed me massively and I can’t help but think a more motivated, stronger, more successful person would have handled this period differently…. Made a nonprofit or something..

My dad has improved considerably over the last year because I was finally able to get him access to a different, more specialized care team. I have more bandwidth to focus on my own life now. And I already feel like I can’t be successful based on my unproductive twenties.

The folks I see in successful positions I would like to emulate, don’t have resume gaps or unproductive backgrounds like me so it all feels unattainable and distant.

Looking for stories that might be similar? Or advice. Thank :)