I can actually feel you there, my man. I've just passed the 50 dives mark and while I've gone out and gotten more advanced training than most of the divers here in the islands, I am just now getting to be an "average" diver, and that's on a good day. It's pretty interesting because I came out of OW thinking I was hot stuff, did AOW, thought I was hotter stuff, and then got deployed. In the middle of that experience I had an opportunity to dive in Lake Travis, Tx and soundly got my rear handed to me by those dark, green, murky waters.
I came to the conclusion that you could be a moron and still have a good time in Hawaii so I sought better training, read a bunch on SB, and even though I'm noticing rapid improvement in my diving I know I've still got a long way to go. IMO, it matters that a diver stays humble, is willing to admit they aren't as awesome in the water as they would like to be, and then work to improve upon that with every dive. Oh yes, watching yourself look like a fool on video helps in the motivation department
Peace,
Greg