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If it ain’t happening in 5 years, it likely won’t ( not counting medicine or law of course). Something artistic like music or stand-up, 5 earnest years should yield at least a hint that you are not wasting your time. It’s also helpful to get brutally honest feedback, whether or not we want to hear it.

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This is true but you can't really tell until your a couple years past puberty so it's important to last that long and give it your all after you finish growing. To many kids burn out before then.

I went from a decent junior athlete to top ten in country in that amount of time to compete on world cup. Was really lucky. It was apparent by then that it'd be a continuous grind with little to show afterward. Left healthy and coached for a few years while completing university. I was the old kid in all my classes but way more focused than I would have been straight from high school.

Good point.

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