Are YOU Living Up to Your Potential
Posted by John Draper | Filed under Good ideas, Life Lessons
When I was going through school, I was not a good student. My report cards said things like, “Gail could do much better with more focus,” or “Gail does not apply herself,” or “Gail is not working up to her full potential.” I was never put off by crappy marks — though my Mom had yearly conniptions – because I knew I was smart. And when a course mattered, when I got really sold on doing well, I soared.
I was an academic underachiever for a whole bunch of reasons. The biggest one, I think, was that I couldn’t see how I was going to use the information they were trying to pour into my head. There was a lot of rote learning. There was a lot of drilling. I was bored and used my creativity to come up with great excuses for why I hadn’t done my homework. Without a sense of what the end purpose was, I couldn’t “buy” the value of the slog-work. And I didn’t have the discipline to Just Do It. Nope. I was the Princess of Procrastination. I don’t know when I changed, but change I did. Maturity, maybe? Necessity, could be?
Having had a negative experience with rote learning you’d think I would have rebelled against the whole idea of rote learning and drilling for my kids. I did not. Nope. When it came time to teach, I saw the value in getting the basics into their heads and used rote learning and drilling to build their knowledge bases and create a solid foundation for school. I guess, by then, I was aware of how the information I’d learned had paid off. It wasn’t the technique that was wrong; it was the arbitrary way it had been used.
Alex knew her times tables to 12 by the time she was 9. She knew ‘em cold. I knew that the multiplication tables were the “alphabet” of math, and if she had them down everything else would be that much easier. And I told her so while I used a bunch of different resources to put those math facts into her head: Multiplication Rock put the tables to music; daily pen and pencil drilling, along with verbal drilling kept the drilling short and fun. She learned quickly and once she had the rhythm of a table down, I’d mix up the numbers. She’d earn rewards for getting them right. She earned cudos for her efforts. She loved it, particularly when she met kids twice her age that still couldn’t come up with the answer to 8 X 7. Malcolm had the multiplication tables down by the time he was 6. He’d been watching what I was doing with Alex closely and just stacked it into his brain.
There were times when Alex whined when I was teaching her. But we persisted. And for years later when she watched her peers struggling with the math basics, she’d thank me for getting her so well prepared. We did the same thing with grammar, geography, history, Greek and Latin roots, and a whole bunch of other stuff. When it came time to learn the table of elements in science, she had no trouble. She knew how to pour stuff into her brain.
Not everything comes easily. Some things take effort, lots of effort. Sometimes the actions we have to take seem boring, tedious, a mega-waste-of-time. And when you’ve been doing something the wrong way for a long time (like buying whatever you want whenever you want regardless of how much money you have in the bank) and have to break the cycle, it can seem impossible. But it’s not. What it takes is a change in your mindset. It requires that you recognize you have the potential to grow. And it requires that you MOVE… do something different.
Filling in your spreadsheet to track your budget takes discipline. But the rewards are huge when you find you’ve paid off your debt, have money set aside for the future, and have a sense of peace when it comes to your financial life.
We all have the potential to be debt free. More and more people who are watching my show and following the plan are seeing their potential. And the couples with whom I work are always flabbergasted to have money in the bank when I leave.
I believe in them. And by the time I leave, they believe in themselves. And you know what? When you believe in your own potential, miraculously you can learn to be better at managing your money.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you won’t make mistakes. I could tell you dozens of things I’ve done wrong with my money. But I could also tell you that when I make a mistake, I don’t whine about it (for too long), and I don’t make the same mistake again. I learn from it. I don’t beat myself up (for too long) for being stupid. I put my logical brain in control as opposed to letting my emotional brain make me feel like a fool. And I decided to figure out what I’d done wrong, and why, so I wouldn’t do it again.
I’m living up to my potential.
How do I know?
I’m happy.
How are you doing, and how do you know?
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September 19, 2008 at 11:39 am
Hey Gail, another good post…one I find particularly relevent on a personal level and not on a financial level. I was the exact same way in school – “not living to your potential….blah, blah, blah”. I was definitely an academic underachiever. I have to say that at 30, eventhough I have a solid job and great financial knowledge, I’m still trying to figure myself out, and in some way, watching your show (and reading your site), I’m starting to wonder if I’d be better suited as a financial planner such as yourself. I would definitely love to be in contact with you and get some kind of mentorship or guidance or something! Anyways, thanks for being you!
September 19, 2008 at 1:50 pm
I am happy, so I must be doing okay.
My dad taught me a long time ago that you can’t let other people tell you what you SHOULD be doing. He did very well in school with an above average IQ, but school and “careers” didn’t thrill him. You know what did? Carpentry! He was happiest when he was making something that was well made, whether that be entire houses or blacksmith bellows. People told him he was wasting his intelligence on hard work, but he knew it was more important to be happy at your work than just about anything.
I too did very well at school, (I got a rush out of doing the work and anticipating the questions) and my grown up passion is applied arts (and my family). Working from home is a happy happy thing for me, maybe my straight A’s could have been applied elsewhere, maybe I could be a top producer at a large graphics firm, but my simple life is what I want. I am living up to my potential in an unconventional way; my kids appreciate it, my husband appreciates it, and my clients appreciate it, and they are the ones I am trying to impress, no one else!
September 20, 2008 at 1:48 am
Great post.
To answer, this month NO, usually, YES
September 20, 2008 at 3:49 am
I have to say that Craig & I are finally starting to live up to our true potential. Over the last 27 years there has been a huge amount of growth on both our parts. We have finally figured out how to balance things. We used to suck at that! When ambition was skyrocketing and money was flowing in … so did out of control spending. We would have these manic – then depressive personal finance highs & lows. And of course even though we were a married couple … do you think we were ever on the same FINANCIAL page at the same time? Heck no!!! About 3 1/2 years ago … enough was enough and after coming a hair’s width from splitting up – we got our SH*T together. We kind of mind-melded ourselves to the same darn page … and taught ourselves how to communicate properly about “GROWN-UP” issues like money!!! We have learned how to balance our lives properly … and it feels AWESOME. Especially with the ridiculous economic times we are presently living through. NO CREDIT CARD or consumer debt! The house will be paid off within 7 years! And our stress level is minimal! We have really grown to know what our true potential is … and are excited about living up to it! So I guess I know we are doing good, because we have balance, peace, and excitement for the future!!!
September 21, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Good to know, I am not the only one out there that did not enjoy school. I enjoyed 2 subjects in HS: accounting and human biology. In college I went into marketing and computer enginering. go figure.
I’m an individual works, but I don’t live to work. I don’t let my work take over my life. My life: my family, friends and health are so much more important. If I need to take a part from the workforce, I have. Usually, for medical reason. I lost my hearing one winter because of a problem with my jaw. I always strive to make sure I have sufficient dollars to cover my time away. I don’t have an exceptionally amount of debt, which is good for me. Especially, since I’m single and foot the whole bill myself