Well, then if I'm only interested in getting results in the short term and don't care about getting results in many years from now when I'm old, what could I do?
A psychotherapist? Denying reality and dooming myself?
A psychotherapist? Denying reality and dooming myself?
You have to accept and enjoy not being great at anything, but in turn you can do anything. It is a different mindset. You will never be the star of whatever you do, but you will often be the guy in the background at all events who jumps in to take care of something unrelated to the event in question that needs to be done.
I'm currently looking at jobs and definitely harbor a lot of self-doubt because I don't have specialized skills that match desired skills, but have so much other experience outside of any one domain.
One of my aims is certainly to sit down and master something in the domain of work that can make things smoother / more sustainable, but at least going into jobs assigning proper value to my suite of skills is a helpful thing to keep in mind.
Jack of all trades would be in all of the above, plus woodworking, playing violin, learning a foreign language. .. thing that are all fine alone, but too different to master them all.
become good at learning from your mistakes quickly
So it really comes down to your own decision - are you satisfied with your life or not?
Short term I feel like this article is still useful advice as it helps to avoid the trap of working on something for a small amount of time and feeling like it was a waste when it was really stacking bricks to make a larger effort.
It feels like shit vs more shit
It's far from the only path though. There's many possible causes of depression and even more possible solutions. Find one that works for you. You deserve more than shit. As someone who's been deep in that shit more than once, you can claw your way out and once you do, the world is a beautiful place that's worth growing old in. Then you'll end up in the shit again but each time climbing out gets easier.
Personally it took me moving country, changing career more than once until I found one that gave me a sense of purpose, finding a beautiful and totally surprising partner, and lots more to find my present stability.
That's what worked for me. What will work for you? You need to find that out. You only have one life, if it's shitty now them what have you got to lose by making every possible effort to change that? I mean, what could possibly be more important than making that effort? Certainly not a shitty career or a shitty relationship or a shitty family. Leave them if you need to. Nothing controls you except you. And physics, and the law and immigration officers and so on. But there's always room to maneuver.
This is incredibly meaningful and if someone can get their mind working this way, they appreciate every minute of life.
Religion aside (don't go against whatever religion you choose says), you need to compromise between short term and long term. You might die tonight, you might live to 120, and odds are you don't have any better idea. You also don't know how you will age. There are people climbing mountains at 90. There are people at 65 who need to help get out of bed. If you are lucky to be healthy enough climb mountains at 90, then it makes sense to save a little now so you have enough money to afford to do what you want. If you lose your health by 65 then there is no point in savings as you can't enjoy life anyway.