Project Zomboid 1x Population Survival?

Am I a loser? I haven't exactly been winning. The Omega Man series has me questioning what my skill level really is. I think I could handle Project Zombie on 1x population, and that I can learn more by doing 16x. Is that really true? What have I learned other than that I can be worn down by a constant stream of the undead? I'm going to tone it back and confirm something: that I can hack it in the zombie apocalypse at normal difficulty levels.