where were they going without ever knowing the way?

I've been thinking a lot about the idea of potential lately. I was recently talking with someone about how I've been told since I was in elementary school that I never live up to my potential. For years I've been buying into that same idea that I'm just a case of failed potential, and I've always been optimistic about being able to change that. Time has gone by though, probably enough since high school and the "sheltered years", for me to be able to do something with my life that involves NOT failing to live up to my potential...you know, the kind of thing that looks good on a job resume or what they'll write about in your biography if you ever become important enough to become famous.
(Sidenote- I fully understand that the terms "important" and "famous" are no longer directly proportional or logically related in any way, but I like to organize my mind and whatever I write about in ways that make sense and do not boggle the mind the way the existence of Spencer and Heidi do.)
Anyway, maybe its just impatience or insecurity but I feel like I should have achieved something along these lines already. Sometimes I wonder if I really do have the capability to do something amazing or whether its just an oasis full of childhood lessons about self esteem deluding my mind into thinking that I have that capacity. My generation was taught that we can achieve ANYTHING, if we just get good grades and get a college education, ect ect ect, blah blah blah....
I know tons of people, both with college degrees and without who are in various states of employment. I know someone with a masters degree from London who couldn't find a job anywhere and I know people without any college education to speak of with more money than they know what to do with. (LA is full of those, something about the beach and wide open spaces attracts the trust fund bunch).
Some days I feel like the goals I have set for myself are completely reachable and attainable and perfectly suited to my personality and strengths, and other times I feel like I've set the bar too low, that I should be setting my sights on world domination instead of just domination of the 12th grade history classroom. And on bad days I feel like I'm doomed to serve out my life sentence waiting tables and feeling like both time and society have passed me by. Usually those days occur when my bank account is under $100 and payday seems too far away to fathom the existence of.
Its a really unsettling feeling to have no clue in the world what your life will look like a year from now. I blame my parents, and their parents (especially my paternal grandfather- what good are you managing Charlie Chaplin and Vivien Leigh and parading around hollywood like you're important in 1935 if you cant get me anywhere now, huh?!) for this. Not my great grandparents though, on either side, they were hardworking and diligent and created a secure future for their children. Edmund Burke talks about the social contract between generations and how each generation owes it both to the one previous to finish the hard work they started and to the next one to create a lasting, secure future. I love this and wish I felt like my life in some way could be a testament to this, but when my parents (of two different generations themselves) were either too busy protesting the war in vietnam or parading around the eighties like life was one huge party, it creates double the duty for me.

Or...maybe my bank account is just under $100 today.