Read biographies of people you admire. The middle chapters are always messier than the headlines let on.

Reputations arrive edited. From outside, a career looks like a clean line from talent to recognition, because the wrong turns, the rejections and the ordinary jobs do not make the summary. Reading the full account shows you the confusion in the middle, which is the part you are living in now.

Pick one person whose path you envy and find the long version of their story rather than the profile. Pay attention to whatever age you are now, and note what they were actually doing then. Compare that to your own week instead of comparing yourself to their peak.