...is that most programmers tend to grade themselves as part of that super productive elite. I'd bet that if you took a survey of programmers, 90% of them would rate themselves in the echelon of that top 10%. Apparently, humility is not part of what makes programmers tick. Which is also why there's probably such a high burnout rate in the field - the amount of knowledge that must be absorbed is growing geometrically and programmers invariably have to have some sense of control of their domain and a certain belief in their invulnerability.
As I get older, I tend to look at my software not as a series of accomplishments, but rather I see the deficiencies and the holes - being my own worst critic. I also see that many times software development takes a path where the really interesting stuff in an application is done upfront (because it is after all interesting) and the stuff you keep putting off - or can't quite figure out how to get around - is sooner or later all that there is left to do on the project.