I agree with many things, but isn't the professional athlete thing just a little crazy? Isn't that part of the problem? Yes, we all have to put in work and interact, find our footing, but when you start treating this as a race..doesn't it become just about crunching the numbers, dazzling the crowds, instead of being authentic and original wanting to communicate things we want, we start thinking about pleasing people to gain traction and get attention.
Engagement and interaction also needs to be authentic and honest.
The professional athlete analogy is about the effort requires to actually be very good at something, not just to compete. I know of some people who never compete yet, they want to be experts and they put their effort into being so. A painter for example may never show the world her work but spend all of her time honing her craft.