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I learn through feeling.
I do through logic.
In other words, I don't learn the same way I do the things I'm best at. I'm best at working with numbers, analytics, statistics - "hard" facts. But that isn't the stuff that sticks with me and becomes an applied skill.
I learn through intuition and feeling - applied skills are those ingrained in my "gut feeling." The "hard" facts aren't consciously remembered by the time I'm good at any given skill. It just feels right.
Take for instance, several years ago when I was writing a commissioned blog (spreadingthought.blogspot.com, or the former Mayobrains.com for those that have been around that long), the proprietor of the company said I should write in beat poetry and prose.
I didn't know what the heck it was, but with a nudge and a notion, I went for it. Somehow, I had a knack for that kind of flow and alliteration.
I didn't count my syllables, didn't pine over rhyme, and I paid no heed to speed or any other such nonsensical analysis. I just read it aloud, and if it rolled from my lips and "felt" right, I went with it. I'm much the same with spelling and grammar.
All this time I've been trying to learn new skills, but I have been obsessing over getting all the reports and statistics that I can - because numbers and "hard" facts are my most favorite thing in the world - but without much success.
Now I know why.
- Mood:
accomplished - Music:Jakalope - Anthem 2
A good rule of thumb - when someone's hands are occupied, it's not a good idea to talk to them on any topic besides what they are doing - if at all.
Let's say you're at a social gathering. There's food, pool tables, a TV area, and a dance floor. The person eating will be aggravated that you have interrupted their food consumption, the pool player will sneer at you for ruining his shot, the sports enthusiast will do his best to ignore you (note his hands are up in the air or clenched at his mouth), and the dancer will storm off the dance floor (note they are using their hands to dance too!) - all of them peeved that you ruined their concentration and enjoyment, because you took their attention away from what they were doing by bringing up a topic that interested -you- rather than what was currently interesting them.
This is doubly bad if you do two faux pas at once, and brag about yourself or your life when you interrupt their enjoyment - but it could be acceptable if your bragging is on topic. Let's say you're at the snack table, and you start a conversation with someone who is eating about the hot dog eating contest you won - they might like that topic. However, you would have a better chance of piqueing their interest if you talk about how fantastic the key lime pie is, and how you simply must get the recipe. In fact, if that person made it, you've just won major kudos too.
In circumstances with lots of background noise, it's pretty much a bad idea to try and talk to someone on ANY topic, especially if they're actively enjoying the background noise - such as the dancer, and the sports enthusiast. They can't hear you easily, so the simple fact that you said something has distracted them and already ruined their concentration - and it can be easily made worse by talking about something off-topic, and even worse if you're bragging. If they're in a bad mood to begin with, they're liable to punch you! ...and not in any kind of a fruity way.
Your social skills will determine your success - in fact, if you're dumb as a box of rocks but have social skills, you can be very very successful. If you really need an example of that, just look at Bush. Enough said.
- Mood:
cynical - Music:Beck - Loser
You are your own worst enemy - because after all, who do you spend the most time with? The only time you will be tortured by an enemy is when you are with that enemy - and you are with yourself your entire life. It makes sense that you should know yourself best of all - but the subjective is always so much more allusive than the objective. It's harder for you to see a whole room in one glance when you're standing in the middle of it, but if you're on the outside looking in through the window, you'll see three of the four walls all in one shot.
There are two ways to avoid failure and making mistakes, and both of them begin with recognizing your weaknesses. Once you have recognized your weaknesses, once you know thyself, you can then begin to either 1. work to make that trait meet a certain standard or 2. realize there's nothing you can really do about it, but remember that weakness and compensate for it through your other actions.
Don't just sit there and bitch about someone else's standards being too high - do something about it. If you don't care to meet their standards, there's no fault in that, go ahead and get yourself out of the situation where you have to meet their standards. If you do want to meet their standards, don't demand that they lower them - work to improve yourself so that you can meet them as they stand. There will be some cases where you are forced to meet certain standards, and depending on whether you work to meet them or don't, those standards will determine how successful you can be in life, unless you find a work-around.
When you know yourself, most especially your weaknesses, you can spend less time fixing your mistakes and failures, and more time working toward your success. If you take personal responsibility for your weaknesses, and take personal responsibility for improving upon them - then you only have yourself to blame for your success, and nobody can take that away from you, because you gave it to yourself.
Ever see a really successful person and think, "oh they are so lucky"? Give you a little secret, luck is not by chance - it's one-half opportunity and one-half ability to find, see, and utilize that opportunity. The second half is all on you, and wholly depends on your willingness to improve yourself to meet someone else's standards. If you do not know your weaknesses, and cannot improve or work around them to meet their standards, then you will have a much harder time taking advantage of opportunity and making the best of it.
In order for your life to improve, YOU have to improve. If you always play it safe, and never put yourself into situations bigger than yourself, then your life will not improve. Nobody is perfect, but everyone can be better.
- Mood:
contemplative - Music:Sylver - Chances
The river may appear serene on the surface, but underneath is a current, and an entire eco-system with thousands of little communities working in harmony and balance. It has a definite direction, although not immediately apparent, the river is going somewhere, and it came from somewhere.
Does it tell you "I came from the mountains"? Does it tell you "I have a thousand dead fish"? If the river is without harmony, its poisons will infect the land, and nothing will grow properly - but if it is in harmony, it has no need to announce where it came from or what has died within it. The river simply does what it is meant to do, and takes proper care of itself and the life around it.
I have said it a thousand times - what can be found in nature is also within man, or at least should be. We are a part of nature, after all - a fact all too often forgotten.
In other words - realize that the world does not revolve around you, realize that the natural way of things is both temporary and for the good of all, nothing is out to hurt -you-, it's just seeking balance. Don't fight it, don't hate it - opt to understand it instead, if not help it. You were born to be a sacrifice for the betterment of all - stop trying to preserve your dignity, honor, or vision of your life as you see it. You will fail, because you -will- die. In the end all that matters is how you will be remembered. And the real question at that point is...
Were you a desert whose sole purpose was to prove the value of an oasis, because all you brought was death, desolation, and harshness - or were you a river whose sole purpose was to create life and help wash away and recycle the dead fish?
- Mood:
indescribable - Music:Depeche Mode - In Your Memory
