If there is one thing I've learnt recently is this: Most people don't really want to do stuff. They want to read stuff, talk about stuff, plan stuff, design stuff, but they don't want to do stuff. People have come to me and asked me for advice on some stuff I know after I wrote about it. I tell them what to do, but most of them just don't do it.
People are afraid to compete because they prefer to pretend they could have won if they played, than to know that they played and lost.