‘What is something people assume is easy until they actually try it?’ – 22 activities you’d definitely be rubbish at

Anyone who has ever thought they could sit down at a piano and pick out a tune knows that things only look effortless when they’re done by people who have spent a long and difficult time mastering them.

They’ve been chatting about this on the AskReddit page after user EntireFace00 posed this question:

What is something people assume is easy until they actually try it?

Lots of people who had naively tried and failed chipped in with their thoughts, like these…

1.

‘Fighting. Too many people think they can fight with no training.’
–FujiwaraHelio

2.

‘Swimming. Everyone thinks they can swim until they’re actually in deep water and suddenly remember they have the cardio of a desk lamp.’
–McCoy818

3.

‘Tai chi. Looks easy, calm, chill. You’ll wonder where in the world those achy muscles came from.’
–sortaplainnonjane

4.

‘Fall asleep early when you really need it.’
–Estefany018

5.

‘As someone who follows several sewing subreddits….. SEWING. People are genuinely delusional.’
–KLMaglaris

6.

‘Riding a horse. No you don’t just sit there while the horse does the work. A trail ride at walk isn’t too bad, guaranteed you’ll be in pain the next day and your legs will hurt like hell. Actual riding like dressage or jumping – very hard work, cardio, balance, coordination, strength.’
–Necessary_Emotion565

7.

‘I’ve been a musician/vocalist for 30 years and play guitar, bass, a bit of piano, and other things. I understand the drums. I know the terminology, I know the rhythms, I know what to ask for. My hand-feet coordination is abysmal. I can barely keep a straight beat going when I have to keep time with my hands AND my feet.’
–prstele01

8.

‘Writing instructions. I’m running into this at work. A lot of people think ‘it’s a simple task, how hard can it be to interpret what I’ve said’. Like buddy, there’s three different interpretations here: what you intended, what the reader understood, and what you actually wrote.

Its shockingly difficult to make sure all of those are functionally the same thing.’
–QuixoticCoyote

9.

‘Reading off a teleprompter without sounding and looking like a robot.’
–LoquaciousLo

10.

‘Any version of reading out loud is deceptively hard. Or talking on radio, or as a sports commentator. You gotta keep it flowing the whole time, can’t have dead air, and no ‘aaah, um’. It’s a skill.’
–BattledroidE

11.

‘Being an effective leader. Everyone thinks they can be the boss, until they have to be the boss.’
–Ksan_of_Tongass

12.

‘Acting on a stage.’
–FjordM0nkey