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 [...]

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Outline:

(00:49) Doing A Thing Puts You in The Top 10%

(01:33) So, Where is Everyone?

(02:26) And That Sucks

The original text contained 6 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

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First published:
August 13th, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/rkxKQeTvDa5CzqW8q/doing-a-thing-puts-you-in-the-top-10-and-that-sucks-1

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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“Doing A Thing Puts You in The Top 10% (And That Sucks)” by Brendan Long

LessWrong (30+ Karma)