Why Are We So Afraid of Being Awesome?

27% of us think we have greatness in us, but why aren't we trying?

This is one of those ones I know almost no one will be interested in but I had so much fun so who cares!

The survey

According to a recent Yougov poll, 27% of Britons think they could qualify for the 2028 Olympics if they started training today.

This is, of course, complete bullshit and totally ridiculous. It is also amazingly cute and, above all, perplexing.

27% of people think they are capable of greatness. And, while I think in the case of elite sport, they are probably wrong, I want to spend this article unpacking what this attitude really means.

According to a more granular part of the survey, 6% of men think they could “probably or definitely” qualify for team GB in golf were they to start training today. Meaning, they think they could beat either Tommy Fleetwood or Matt Fitzpatrick, two people who not only play on the highly competitive and lucrative PGA tour, but who do very well on that tour.

6% of men think that with 4 years of training, they could become multi-millionaire professional golfers.

Where are all the people trying to be pro golfers?

The reason I am amazed by this is not because I think these people are stupid or delusional. It’s because I wonder why, with that sort of self-belief, they aren’t trying to do it.

Why, if you thought you could become a multi-millionaire sportsman, would you not bet the farm on that? Live off beans and rice for four years on the almost certain knowledge that you will come out of it rich beyond your wildest dreams?

There are roughly 42 million people between the ages of 18 and 64 in Briton. About half are men, so 21 million. 6% of 21 million is 1,260,000 men. 1,260,000 people who, logically, should be quitting their jobs and betting it all on becoming a golfer.

So, I ask you again, where is the torrent of blokes suddenly spending twelve hours a day at the driving range?

There should be headlines every day in the daily mail: “Wave of Middle Age Men Down Tools and Pick up Clubs,” and “The Truth about the Far Right’s Claim that More Men are Identifying as Pro Sportsmen.”

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

I’ve always found this quote by Marianne Williamson to be almost nonsensical. Why wouldn’t I want to be great? But the older I get the more I understand it.

My greatest fear as an artist is that I’ll have to start really trying. To give up a part of myself to the craft. To suddenly be beholden to fans or gatekeepers. That I will have to leave my quiet, peaceful life and actually fully commit. Fully inhabit my identity as a writer.

It’s clear that “success” can be really shit. Look at the authors obsessed with their position on the NYT list and can’t enjoy life unless they hit the top. Or the singer stuck on endless tours where they play their greatest hits over and over again.

Similarly, athletes have to deal with immense pressure. The thought of lining up on the start line of the 100 metres final, or holing a putt on the 18th for a million dollar payday, is enough to turn plenty of people off sport.

Maybe people are afraid of discomfort. Training to become a PGA golfer is a very different life than working a regular job. It’s probably both a lot more fun and a lot more boring at the same time.

People like what they know. Me included.

There are various psychological phenomena that also explain this. The Sunk Cost fallacy suggests that we prefer to stick to paths we’ve already devoted resources to. Loss Aversion means most people are more afraid of potential negative effects, like quitting your job and losing everything when you don’t make the PGA, than they are excited about potential positive effects, like the riches they might gain from being a pro golfer.

The main reason, though, is probably just that way less than 6% of people really believe in their heart that they could become a top 2 golfer in the UK in 6 years time. It’s a survey, after all, and no one has to put any skin in the game so they can boast a little.

Still, I like to think there are at least a few hundred thousand people out there in Britain genuinely convinced that they could do it, they just choose not to.