Sometimes when you look at your life you realize there are things you are really adapted to and many more things that you are either naive or just slow at. When it comes to things related to my business ventures, I would like to think that I am a faster learner. Being a commodity trader forces you to be quick and extremely adaptive. You have to be able to change your mind and your direction 180 degrees in a matter of minutes or you will not survive. It is the nature of the business and it is fast.
Things that I am really slow at seems to be with some of my greatest loves, the web. With coding, I don’t do enough research on the proper ways to do things, but rather, focus more on just getting it to work for me. That is were I am not really a good coder. I don’t seem to have the patience or the ability to make things universal with something that I am not really interested in. I am a slow learner and will eventually get better at it, but I need to learn the right way to do it.
Being a fast learner on some topics is a great asset. This includes reading people in business and reading people in games such as poker. That can really be loads of fun. Reading someone incorrect isn’t a big deal if you can change 180 in an instance. Slow learner syndrome will be a downfall, but with practise you can get better.
I am really a slow learner with things like video chat. My wife and I finally started video conferencing when I am on the road or in my office. It works great and gives you the feel that you are really almost there. I was a slow learner on this topic and yet with technology and gadgets, I am usually an early adaptor!
It is funny how we seem to adapt well to certain things and really suck in other things. Knowing which ones you are good or bad at is an asset. Knowing which ones you can improve on and which ones are important can be a competitive edge. Doing something to better yourself will make a difference.
Sometimes when you look at your life you realize there are things you are really adapted to and many more things that you are either naive or just slow at. When it comes to things related to my business ventures, I would like to think that I am a faster learner. Being a commodity trader forces you to be quick and extremely adaptive. You have to be able to change your mind and your direction 180 degrees in a matter of minutes or you will not survive. It is the nature of the business and it is fast.
Things that I am really slow at seems to be with some of my greatest loves, the web. With coding, I don’t do enough research on the proper ways to do things, but rather, focus more on just getting it to work for me. That is were I am not really a good coder. I don’t seem to have the patience or the ability to make things universal with something that I am not really interested in. I am a slow learner and will eventually get better at it, but I need to learn the right way to do it.
Being a fast learner on some topics is a great asset. This includes reading people in business and reading people in games such as poker. That can really be loads of fun. Reading someone incorrect isn’t a big deal if you can change 180 in an instance. Slow learner syndrome will be a downfall, but with practise you can get better.
I am really a slow learner with things like video chat. My wife and I finally started video conferencing when I am on the road or in my office. It works great and gives you the feel that you are really almost there. I was a slow learner on this topic and yet with technology and gadgets, I am usually an early adaptor!
It is funny how we seem to adapt well to certain things and really suck in other things. Knowing which ones you are good or bad at is an asset. Knowing which ones you can improve on and which ones are important can be a competitive edge. Doing something to better yourself will make a difference.
Posted by tammyadams on January 27, 2007 at 9:04 pm
I admit, computers and the web are definitely not my strong points. Of course, I am sleeping with my tech support, so I do stay on top of things.
Posted by Trent on January 27, 2007 at 9:06 pm
lmao…..nice my wife…nice…..!
Posted by Stephen on January 16, 2009 at 9:09 am
Hey Trent
This post came up as a “possibly related post” as I published a post on my learning experience in painting.
I liked your point about doing a 180 when you have incorrectly read someone. Nice and fluid.
Tammy – Thanks for the levity
Woah I see this was two years ago
Posted by Trent on January 17, 2009 at 11:18 am
Thanks for the comment Stephen! I actually was surprised by the traffic to this post and your comment forced me to read it again! 180’s in business and life in general mean more now than when I wrote it
Posted by Anne Nguyen on March 27, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Hey Trent. I really enjoyed this post. I also visited your blog because it came up as a “possibly related post”. Keep up the good work (:
Posted by Bill Brasky on March 31, 2009 at 10:03 am
Trent,
I really enjoy your posts! Unfortunately my monitor seems to be set to “English (American)” and as such has trouble displaying words in which a “c” is replaced by an “s” (i.e. practice). I’ve taken to the practice of cutting out small letter c’s, gluing them to toothpicks, and holding them in front of my monitor in place of the s’s, but matching the font and size exactly is somewhat difficult. This doesn’t seem to be a long term solution. Could you offer me any tips on resetting my monitor to “English (U.K.)” so that I can enjoy your posts in all of their glory?
Thanks,
Bill Brasky
Posted by stephen fry on April 13, 2009 at 10:01 am
I totally agree about the 180 move. I think its ok to get a read on someone or something. However once you realize that you may be worng its important to try and get the right perception on something because it will catch up to you in the long run. A little bit of humility within yourself is needed. I am a poker player also. That is very important in poker, reading people. If you get the wrong read you have to accept it and be willing to move on and try again. I believe everyone should know their strengths and weaknesses. It makes you a stronger person.
Posted by Trent on April 13, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Exactly. Humility is important as we all have bias, though we rarely like to admit it. The biggest risk is our assumptions are wrong.
Posted by rannieb on May 19, 2009 at 12:27 pm
This post is great, and I’m going to look forward to reading others on your blog. Your blog did come up in related content for me as well.
Commodities trader, huh? How does that include travelling?
http://www.investingnewbie.wordpress.org
Posted by Trent on May 19, 2009 at 7:53 pm
North America is a big place