The pecking order has already been established

Your friends perceive you however they always have perceived you

You now perceive yourself different

Its difficult to change the current perception they have towards you as all future perception of you are based on their old perception of you.

TO change their perception of you and your perception of yourself around them it would take small gradual change.

There is no easy solution to this, fight every step of the way, fight the emotion inside and try to overcome it. You could always try teaching them pickup, then you can establish your expertise in that area.

As for not steppin up to the mark everytime, i have exactly the same issue sometimes, its when your out of your comfort zone and may feel extra unwanted pressure that trigures your brain to think "shit i carnt fuck this up" which in turn makes you fuck it up

But if all fails find new friends!

AJay