I feel cheated and alone in this feeling. Calling out to all former gifted children who overachieved as a trauma response for survival - How are you coping with the harsh reality of climbing the corporate ladder for personal growth and success that comes from acting in the best interest of the corporations? I am conflicted to to pursue my career prospects and opportunities by participating in a broken system contributed to my adverse childhood conditions. But here's a somewhat articulate tldr Hi i am a resentful lifer coming from a worker class family. I am sure on a good day I can better articulate my thoughts. I am very emotionally vulnerable and exhausted. Please share your thoughts, I feel lost! #burnout Sorry about my lengthy post. I never wanted to be in this world in the first place but after fighting for survival and dragging myself out from the deep pit that I was dropped into, I can't imagine participating in the very system that created the conditions that I grew up in and continue the cycle. I would rather pick integrity and basic human ethics than to be ambitious and successful. I am struggling to find the bare minimum contentment and motivation to keep going.

Right now i am at the peak of my growing career prospects in managerial/leadership roles. It maybe shocking that this is not something that ever crossed my mind before(maybe idealism or naive optimism), that it is the inevitable, and one of the many intentional design of the capitalistic system/society. My success in the corporate world is tied to my actions that are in the best interest of the 'company'. My success as a manager/leader depends on being creative to get the most productivity out of the them, they call this a 'price of admission' for the privilege to be a part of 'leadership'. Fast forward to now: I have come to a stopping point and it pains me to digest that from now on, in order to move forward to a higher level position I will have to participate in exploiting my future direct reports. It felt like i can do anything that i can put my mind to(classic survival stuff) and it worked! At least for a while. I was proud of building myself up from having adverse childhood experiences, and my perseverance in the beginning. I also thought I can make meaningful impacts to later make changes which may improve the system from within and use this so called the gift of 'life' that I was given to make tiny a contribution. I feel alone in my experience with navigating through life, i never consented to be born but somehow i made myself believe that if i just work harder, do everything 'right' and follow the rules of society/capitalist work culture that i can make it and find myself not resenting life.

Former gifted kid burnout