Working backwards to help complete your life or think about jumping out of pointless loops...

So the main word here is backwards, like looking from the other side of a pipe to get another perspective.
The perspective from the end of your life! So working backwards you can imagine a bit more what is possible (what you see in your own reality is not only what is possible!)... then you can say and almost create your reality NOW rather than patching together reality without a longer chain of main requirements / milestones.

This might sound borderline bullshit (honk your horn!) but it's to say life isn't just the short loops people would like your to stay in or only what you see.... YOU also can create it and draw a better road map.

Not just what you think is the next step... but what is at the end game (and think about that in reverse order also)...
This tunnel of work and then changing probably or 1 type of work forever?
Do you want to choose that tunnel or another one?

Similar also to looking back if you were already old or thinking about how you would in theory explain your story to children about spent your time... I want to do this and to do that I would need to do this, but before that this and this... which probably needs this... and at the end you have a road map (from end point... and then yeah think chronologically forward again)

Just visualise and answering the main question here is.. WHAT IS YOUR END POINT?
Although never going to be 100% or even 10%.... I feel when you know your vocabulary then even a totally different sport can contain the SAME attributes and failure is only transferred to that sport instead which is no failure at all! ....

Good / Bad examples

A few sports people I've spoken personally had to change their mindset if they wanted to be almost perfect (or maybe they were like that in attitude but it magnified going for 'gold') so my suggestion is NOT going gor olympic gold, it's burning too much energy and low chance or low reward even if you get there... or consider moving sport after because it's jut 15mins of fame and that's it (dog eat dog).
So sport good, gold medal unrealistic unless you do small sports and accept you 'weren't with the best always but the best is just cut-throat suicide and full of competitive attitude.

STUDENTS
Where the fuck does your study lead? Talk to those at the end-game and see what avenues it leads otherwise you're just going to be unhappy and killed your time for making parents happy. The people already in the job WILL TELL YOU THE TRUTH about the whole experience, teh pay, the conditions, how ofte, how many times, why this and that... so not just study study and then realising it's a bunch of lies OR YOU CREATED THE STORY AWAY FROM REALISM! It's natural to do that like imagining that boy or girl! They all smell after a while so don't trick yourself...

If you didn't realise where you are going... and just look 1 step ahead - I SUGGEST YOU LOOK ALSO FROM THE END... AND IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE END... THAT SHOWS YOU PROBABLY DON'T HAVE IT

In order to make your ending happen... you need to imagine it better (practise imagining until you know what choices to make when it starts happening or efforts fall into place as higher %)