> But how do I deal with the fact that I always feel that there are people out there who are a lot better than me and a lot younger I know exactly what you mea

> But how do I deal with the fact that I always feel that there are people out there who are a lot better than me and a lot younger I know exactly what you mean, since I have been at that place myself multiple times throughout my studies and work life. Short background: I went back to study at the university (B.Sc. + M.Sc.) at the age of 24 and got my M.Sc. degree at the age of 30; now I'm working as a software engineer at a startup. What really helped was in a first step to work on fully accepting myself. You will always find people that are smarter, faster, <insert adjective here> than you, but that does not mean that you are not worth of love or respect. It's okay to not be able to solve an interview question in time, or to fail an exam, or to not understand a topic the first time you hear about it. We're humans, and this is part of being human. Self compassion and meditation helped and still help me a lot, especially when I'm facing situations where my self-esteem takes a hit or two. It also helped a lot to understand that everyone has its own pace. If I would have gone to university years earlier I would have probably failed, because I just wasn't ready for that step at that point in my life. Now I'm 31 years of age, and I am where I want to be. And that's the important thing: it's the right place _for me_, but it may not be the right place _for you_ or for someone else, and that is totally fine! I'm working with software engineers that are a few years younger than me, who finished their studies quite some time ago and have been working for the past few years, and I'm totally fine with that. It's really awesome, because I'm learning so many things from all of them, and it doesn't matter if they are 21 years or 45 years old. At the end of the day they are also human beings, all with their own baggage filled with fears, failures, positive experiences, and so on. In general, being kinder to myself changed my life for the better, so I can really recommend to first working on being happy with yourself, and then taking further small steps from there. In case you have any questions, I'm more than happy to answer them. Wish you all the best for the future, you can do it!