| I think I have been in your shoes. I got lucky at a young age and semi-made a name for myself. I started working on an open source project when I was around 17 years old. By the time I was 18 or 19, the project was gaining in popularity. I got a great job right out of high school and moved to California. There were several times when I actually overheard random people talking about my project in public. That was cool. As time went on, I moved on to different job due to various circumstances (none the fault of myself, but of the market.) 11 years or so have now passed and I am finishing up a few years of contract work/freelancing. Money was good for a while but the contracts dried up when the economy took a turn. I'm a smart dude, but I was never good at marketing myself. I went through a year of depression where I stopped looking for work and couldn't convince myself that I was worth anything. It took damn near that entire year to convince myself that I was still the same bright dude that did all of these things. I don't say this to be boastful, but instead to say that you are still that same person that accomplished whatever it is that you did. It took a long, hard year for me to realize that. Once I came to that realization, my depression began to fade. I am now fighting and clawing to put myself back out in the world. I've started up a couple start-up ideas (once is a very small niche that should launch in the next couple weeks, basically just waiting on the financial bits to fall into place.), and the other I hope to have up and going a couple months after. I am actively submitting resumes now. I did not hear back from a couple of the companies to which I submitted my resume. I don't feel phased by that anymore. I know that I can/will be valuable to a company and if some company does not see that then some other company will. I honestly can not say what helped me overcome my issues. I had friend constantly telling me encouraging thoughts, saying wonderful things to me, but I didn't believe it. I was simply in a dark place. As I think about it now, however, the best I can do for putting a finger on my solution was:
* I started exercising again. It does a lot, not only for your physical health, but for your mental health
* I quit smoking. It makes you sluggish.
* Limit your drinking for the same reason.
* I started working on side projects that excited me. Now that excitement that I had when I was a fresh lad at 19 years old feels reborn, only now I am 30 years old and ready to take on the world all over again, cheesy as it may sound. I don't let the accomplishments of others get me down. I have decided, instead, to let them inspire. Did someone do something you want to do? Well, damnit, do it better! I apologize if this is rambling, I'm just kind of going stream of consciousness from the heart. Best of luck to you. |