Those of you who have their shit together despite being FA - how do you do it?

TLDR: I was FA for most of my life. I did well despite that in part due to my parents' rigid study regime that they forced onto me, and going to a niche school with a cohort of FA people where we could sympathise with each other. I escaped FA by choosing a career path that forced me to acquire a high level of social aptitude.

I was FA until about... 21, or 22? However, my personal situation made being FA much less detrimental to my development, than your average FA.

Firstly, I was raised in a family that put a large emphasis on discipline, and education. Studying 4-5 hours a day after school was the norm in my household. My parents obsessively tracked my academic progress to ensure that I was on my pathway to a doctor (typical Vietnamese parents). Outside of just tolerating the arduous studying regime, I didn't really have to do anything to ensure my academic success. I simply did what I was told.

Secondly, I was admitted into a specialist high school where admission was contingent exclusively on academic performance (i.e. you couldn't buy entry into this school). What happens when you only accept kids who have studied their whole lives to the detriment of every other aspect of development? You get a cohort of FA people, essentially. So while I could never get a GF, I was never short of friends who were in the same situation as me.

This third point was crucial in me escaping FA. Much to the chagrin of my parents, I didn't study medicine as my parents wanted. Instead, I elected to attend business school, and from there I went into banking. Now, to make it in banking, you have to be confident, assertive, and even dominant (read: aggressive). Eventually I acquired these traits, and these traits helped me escape FA. It's worth mentioning that, at this point in my life, I was actually the most depressed I have ever been. But that's another story for another time.

/r/ForeverAlone Thread