Perfectionism, fear, the future, and MIT
Hi everyone, this is my first Reddit post. I wanted to use this space to vent a little and hopefully get some advice on what I've been going through lately.
Lately, I haven't been able to stop thinking about my future and the overwhelming uncertainty that comes with it. For the past few years, getting into MIT has been my biggest dream, but the more I think about it, the further away it seems.
I don't consider myself special, let alone gifted (even though my close friends tell me otherwise). I'm constantly trying to improve, but I always fall back into the same cycle of procrastination fueled by perfectionism and fear of failure. This leaves me exhausted and mentally drained. I'm trying to let go of this perfectionism, but it's really hard.
On top of all this, there's the constant fear of not getting into MIT. For now, my only achievements are making the national competitive programming team, placing fourth in the National AI Olympiad, and almost representing my country at the International AI Olympiad in Kazakhstan (which didn't happen due to circumstances beyond my control). Honestly, I feel I still have a long way to go to reach the level needed to get into a place like MIT...
I guess I'm writing this to vent and ask for advice on how to deal with perfectionism and fear. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
P.S.: I'm 16 years old.