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.

That field? Excel.

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.