Overall I like this framing. But I wanted to comment on this

> In poker, it’s possible to improve via theoretical learning.... But you really can’t become a successful player without playing a lot of hands with and in front of other players, many of whom will be better than you.

This is an interesting example because poker is a game that has existed for many years, and for most of those years everyone learned by doing and was terrible at it.

People who excel at things have typically done more theoretical learning than the average person. Doing is necessary, but it's rarely the main way you learn something.

Either you have a mentor who has already absorbed theory and transmits it to you in digested form, or you have to learn the theory yourself.

But most people get the balance between theory and doing wrong, and most people err on the side of doing because theory is harder and less instantly rewarding.