I'll put my views out like this. When I say things like "I want to be among the best" it's simply a broad range goal description. For me it's more of a metaphor saying that I'd really rather take my skill as far as I possibly can. I consider myself a competant guitarist, but I don't really think of myself as good or great or anything like that. In the event that I evaluate myself I see so much more territory I need to cover and can't bring myself to settle with crediting myself like that. And, to be honest, I hope that I always feel most comfortable calling myself a competant guitarist rather than a good/great/whatever guitarist. I feel better about things that way. Of course I'd imagine it would feel pretty good to hear people call me one of the greatest, but being realistic about things it seems like a bit hollow of a goal... for me anyway. I'd really rather work on making fun and enjoyable music before I start worrying about how people describe me.