> Although they talked about how badly they wanted to achieve, it seemed that their real goal was to guarantee failure. Do they want to achieve or do they mere

> Although they talked about how badly they wanted to achieve, it seemed that their real goal was to guarantee failure. Do they want to achieve or do they merely feel expected to? I've had plenty of cases in my life where I did not want what someone expected/expects me to achieve, so my solution was/is to just never get around to it. It was a charade to maintain a reasonable level of social standing with the person expecting the thing without spending effort chasing something I did not value. For example, I am very out of shape. Yes, it is not healthy, but the life I live doesn't require any physical capacity. I have other priorities. But if I say that, there are people who will be mad at me and increase their level of nagging. Better to show interest, and just let the lack of any success seem like failure. There are plenty of cases where it is better to seem forgetful or incompetent than unambitious, even if you are.