>>538686857
Source: It's all in my head.
But seriously though, there's a pretty easy book on the topic: Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise.

I also happen to study a bit of economics and finance, so I can tell you that the biggest predictor of general success, of which we often attribute to being a level of wealth, is just the state of the economy at the time when you are in a very environmentally-dependant state.

That is
>Is your field of interest profitable at the time? Are there jobs available? Is there a boom/bust

Comparison is healthy in some doses as it can give you perspective, but don't conflate your own life with that of your parents: they lived entirely different lives in entirely different eras. It is perfectly possible that were they born when you were and in your shoes, that they could have been way worse and vice versa.

You know, isn't this a little bit what the theme of Ruina is all about?

>Be Snaust
>Be usually hungry, lonely, and cold
>Heard a company is employing rabbits and reindeer and the like
>Maybe they will also hire snails?
>Go to the company HQ
>Apply for a job
>Get rejected
>Snaust feels crushed
>So sad and dejected in fact, Snaust doesn't pay any attention to Snaust's surroundings and gets hopelessly lost in the building on her way out
>Wander around blindly
>Try the air vents
>Find a weird room with a curious machine inside
>Crawl into it, instantly curious
>The machine locks around Snaust!
>Snaust panics and tries to get out but it's no use!
>Slowly air starts smelling more and more weird and Snaust falls asleep.