Statistics describe crowds. They don’t know your name, your work ethic, or your Tuesday nights.

Averages are made out of thousands of people who are not you and who were not doing what you are doing. They can tell you what happens generally, and they know nothing about your effort, your circumstances or the hours you put in after everyone else stopped. Being part of a discouraging statistic is not the same as being predicted by it.

Use the numbers to understand the terrain, then stop consulting them about your own chances. Ask what the people who did make it actually did. Let the data inform your plan rather than your expectations.