That field? Excel.

Yeah I know that feeling, is soul crushing.

You spend so much time learning and improving a craft, you think you’re not top-level yet, but you surely is a reference in the area.

Then you see that person, usually younger, absolutely crush your skills by a landslide, making things that kept you several nights awake, seem like child’s play.

Then you start to question what were you doing all this time, were you lazy? Did you have a good path to the point you are? Are they just special? Are you just lacking? Will you be able to keep up with that person (this applies mostly when we’re talking about a job)?

Then you realize no matter what you think, It is what It is, but now you can’t even muster any strength or aspirations, because you will never top their speed, you’re just and old and incapable thing, drifting away.

Get me a cigar.

Im lucky I realized a long time ago that there is always someone better than you. The chance that you are the unmatched expert in an arbitrary field, no matter if it’s science, fantasy or anything else, goes close to zero. There are 8 billion people but probably not 8 billions subjects that can be mastered, not mentioning that it’s very likely that if someone is an expert in a field, they’re most likely also an expert in a very closely adjacent field.

Being the number 2 is perfectly fine, as is being number 3, number 100 or number 100 million. Just think about how if you have even just an average comprehension of something, you still have a better understanding than roughly 4 billion people.

Don’t worry. AI is going to take every job.

It helps to not turn a rather subjective field into a competition.

You need to find your niche when it comes to writing. For example I write mythological science fantasy, and I can count on one hand the number of books I’ve come across that fit that specific genre. You might not be able to write as well as someone else in general, but you can write what you write about better than anyone else.

I used to be like that, first or last there’s no second place. And then I realized I don’t even care, this was instilled in me from childhood that I was stupid or worthless if I couldn’t memorize things I would always fail. 32 years later I still can’t remember shit but I’m one of the more crucial devs on my team that’s basically their lead and logically irreplaceable but I know I am. All my friends are better at everything than I am, this is the only thing I have and now I see I’m starting to loose my intelligence as younger devs come in and I feel inadequate. But now I don’t care enough anymore fire me bitch I’ll go be a farmer or some shit, anything is better than enterprise development. I am also an idiot please don’t take me seriously, I’ve had like 5 shots of whiskey.

Creative work is not fueled by competition.

Sure, it can incentivize creating something. And the submissions mights serve as an application og Goodhart’s law (targets that shouldn’t necessarily be).

But it’s how we have an age of blockbusters and thrillers with homogeneous plot beets (sometimes down to the exact same minute / page.

However, you can ignore Sturgeon’s Law if you recognize your creative work is unique and benefits the community simply for existing.

Eh, I used to feel like that when I was younger. I was a pretty solid bassist, and was good enough that the people I played with at least considered me the best player they knew. It was my thing. It was what I did.

Of course, that meant I’d get all insecure and threatened when someone else claimed to be good at doing what I did. That meant I’d want to show off, because, no, no. This is my thing. This is what I do.

It’s not a good way to be. Maybe don’t be like that if you can avoid it.

It also meant I started stagnating, 'cause I didn’t think I had anything left to learn. I wasn’t good enough to be inventive, but I didn’t want to accept that I wasn’t good enough to be inventive. So, I just got frustrated and bored, and I started losing interest.

After a while, I came across Thundercat, and got a bit humbled. Then, I came across Charles Berthoud and some other YouTube bassists, and got even more humbled.

It was awesome! I was finally reminded that there was so much more to learn, and so much more room for me to grow at the thing I loved. I may never be good enough to innovate or invent a technique of my own, but so what? Being the best seems so frustrating and boring. Screw that.

As long as there’s someone better than me at the thing I love, then I know there’s more for me to learn, and learning is way more satisfying.

(But don’t lose the sense of healthy competition. Few things help you grow better than a good rivalry)