你是否也曾因为在学习新技能时，看到身边的人都比自己强而感到沮丧？作者以滑雪、跑步、写作等经历为例，指出当我们觉得自己是“最差”的时候，往往是因为我们忽略了庞大的“未参与者”群体。事实上，只要你开始尝试，你可能已经超越了绝大多数人。这篇文章鼓励大家不要被“高水平”的参照对象所打击，要看到自己付出的努力和取得的进步，认识到参与本身就是一种成功。

📊 **参与即是优势**：文章指出，当你开始一项新活动时，例如滑雪，你可能看到许多经验丰富的人。但如果将视野放宽到整体人口，你会发现，能够参与这项活动的人本身就已属于少数。例如，在美国，只有约1000万人滑雪或滑雪板，这意味着你可能已经超越了97%的美国人。

🏆 **相对进步的误区**：作者通过自身经历说明，当我们在某个领域是新手时，很容易将自己与该领域内最顶尖或最投入的人群进行比较，从而产生“自己很差”的错觉。但实际上，这些顶尖人群往往是高度投入且经验丰富者，他们的存在并不代表了所有参与者的平均水平。

💪 **认识自身定位**：文章强调，即使在参与者中，你可能仍然是新手，但这并不意味着你没有进步。关键在于认识到自己所处的阶段，并与更广泛的“未参与”人群进行对比，你会发现自己的付出和参与已经让你脱颖而出，进入了相对优秀的前10%或前15%。

😊 **鼓励与心态调整**：面对比自己更优秀的人，感到沮丧是正常的。但作者鼓励大家将注意力放在“尝试”本身，并为自己的努力感到自豪。认识到大多数人根本没有迈出尝试的这一步，你已经具备了超越他们的基础。

Published on August 13, 2025 7:50 PM GMT

I've gone snowboarding about 30 times since I started learning a few years ago, but every time I'm on a lift, most of the other riders have been out 90 days just this season^[1]. In fact, almost everyone I see has been skiing or snowboarding for decades, and comes out almost every day.

It's hard to stay motivated when I'm the worst snowboarder on the mountain.

This might seem like a big coincidence, but I'm also one of the worst runners I know AND one of the worst writers that I'm aware of^[2]. I'm even a terrible hiker. Half the people I hike with casually summit 14ers^[3] on the weekend while I can barely do an easy 1,600 ft climb^[4].

Doing A Thing Puts You in The Top 10%^[5]

Oh wait, I forgot about all of the people who don't snowboard at all. Only 10 million of the 330 million people in the US ski or snowboard. So, actually I'm better than 97% of all skiiers and snowboarders in the US. Yay!

I'm also in the top 15% of runners, the top 20% of hikers, and a top 9% blogger.

So, Where is Everyone?

I'm a way above average snowboarder, top 3%! So why does it feel like I suck? Where is everyone else who sucks more than me? Why can I see 100 other snowboarders on a run but don't see 97 of them falling down?

I guess the problem is.. they're not there at all.

The 97% of the population that doesn't ski.. doesn't ski. And of the remaining 3%, most of those who don't ski most days didn't go skiing today. And of the people who have ever tried skiing, the ones who did it last year but not this year aren't here this year. And the people who are so much worse than me that they injured themselves^[6] are still recovering.

Most of the people I see on a day of skiing are the people who ski every day and are good enough not to hurt themselves.

And That Sucks

It sucks that whenever you start doing something hard, most of the people you see are going to be way more dedicated than you. You're only barely dedicated enough to do it in the first place, so if they weren't more dedicated than you, they probably wouldn't be doing it at all.

But, uh.. feel good about yourself for trying or something? When you stand at the top of a small hill drenched in sweat while literally everyone else is fine and talking about their stupid 14er this weekend, remember that the average person couldn't hike that hill at all. And then still be annoyed because people who are good at things are jerks.

1. ^{^}

   This is only barely an exaggeration. People who are into skiing are into skiing.

2. ^{^}

   

3. ^{^}

   A mountain that's at least 14,000 feet tall.

4. ^{^}

   

5. ^{^}

   Source: I made it up.

6. ^{^}

   Oh wait, this was me last year.

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