You're basically describing what my life will probably be like a few years down the road. I'm the same way; both my parents are professors, I had great grades, aced the SAT's, high expectations and all that...
But my closest friends are really sketchy. I've been doing a lot of really stupid, reckless stuff in the past couple years that I never would have imagined myself doing. I'm probably going to end up moving back home after this semester, where I'll undoubtedly end up spending more time with my sketchy friends, doing reckless stuff, and working part time somewhere.
I think what it is for me is that I don't have a reason to ''fulfill my potential''. It's just not enough; my make a massive effort to excel for the potential to, one day, be happy, when I could be relatively happy now with a decent income and having all of my closest (albeit sketchy) friends around?
So I'm no therapist, but I guess you just have to find something that you're really, really passionate about. Whether that's a job or some other goal, it doesn't really matter. Just something to drive you onwards. I'm personally a pretty ascetic guy; I could be happy with the bare necessities and a crappy apartment for quite some time and be quite happy, so long as I was near my friends and got to do something I cared about in my free time (in my case, writing).
But in the end, I don't think that having a 6 figure job and accomplishing great things in life is a measure of success. Make your own goals, and achieve your own successes.
Crusty VGchartz old timer who sporadically returns & posts. Let's debate nebulous shit and expand our perpectives. Or whatever.
