Life is too short to not really apply yourself in the things you choose to do - and if you're not doing your best, choose something else. Unfortunately I learned this lesson quite late in life.
How late? Late 20s? 30s, 40s, or 50s? I think that, having come to the realization, you're already probably far ahead of the curve.
I've been very inspired by Mandelbrot's life, lately. Reading "The fractalist", his memoir, it's possible to realize two things:
1) how incredibly resilient he and his family were;
2) how he worked from his own definition of success: the fact that he ended up achieving what most people define as undisputed success was almost incidental. He was, to use Joseph Campbell's words, following his bliss.
Mandelbrot was born in 1924. The Mandelbrot set was discovered in 1980. Of course he worked on important things before that, but having his major discovery in the mid 50s puts things in perspective.
I understand where you're coming from, but you don't have to pursue your absolute best in everything you do. It's fine to just "do" things casually. I think people would be much happier if they prioritized participation over mastery.
Yeah, you will soon burn yourself out if you try to do the best in everything. It's really a matter of choosing a few key place to focus your energy and put in extra effort there, but to make sure you leave enough to do other things in life.
