Comments on: Learning the Right Lessons from Your Mistakes http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/ Financial talk for the rest of us Sat, 16 Feb 2013 01:14:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: daydreamr http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-201091 daydreamr Sun, 09 Mar 2008 03:43:16 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-201091 You certainly can’t please everyone and I’m amazed that people are still harping on the hygene issue. Why is this still an issue? It didn’t bother or offend me in any way. I am a very clean and hygene-concious person. I know how to bathe but still, I didn’t feel it was condescending at all. I would not consider it to be a mistake. I don’t think that it’s necisary for you to clarify anything or apologize to the offended readers. they are being overly critical and I’m sure it has a lot to do with their own insecurities. If I were in your situation, I would tell these readers that, if they can’t take an article for what it is, they don’t have to read your blog. You should be comended, Trent, for trying to reach everyone and having a diverse approach to your blog. I read your articles just about every day and some of the material doesn’t apply to me and, sometimes it doesn’t peak my interest so I skim thru it and move on. But I can relate to your point that there are many people who just don’t know how to clean themselves or their homes. I was just trying to discuss this with an older man, about 50. Very gross, unkempt appearance does not go over well in society. It doesn’t impact the way I view him (for the most part) but people think I’m weird for associating w/him. As for learning from your mistakes, every thing that happens is an opportunity to learn a lesson. You can’t beat yourself up over things that were out of your control, bad circumstances, or poor decision making. You certainly can benefit from analyzing the situation and applying the lessons learned to the future. It also has a lot to do with forgiveness. Like the cousin who stole Trent’s cans, it takes a lot to do this but in the end, you can be the bigger person. Forgive others for their transgressions but don’t forget. Live and learn because life goes on…

]]> By: 1hard1 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-199606 1hard1 Fri, 07 Mar 2008 05:53:08 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-199606 You can’t candy-coat your thoughts/opinions to suit everyones own comfort zones. Likewise, you have the right to look back on your thoughts of where you are at the present and see the slight differences as to where you were in your yesteryear. I appreciate that you choose not to be purposefully offensive or completely useless with your shared thoughts. You have not said anything deserving of harsh ridicule. Agree to disagree, and let’s continue to open each others’ minds to other perspectives.

]]> By: ongrowthtrack http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-197628 ongrowthtrack Wed, 05 Mar 2008 04:07:01 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-197628 Noting is a mistake, its just unexpected / unanticipated to its full glory. We need to move on ongrowthtrack

]]> By: Chris http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-197419 Chris Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:23:13 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-197419 Crystal,

You are right!!! I am out of here!!!!

]]> By: Crystal http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-197282 Crystal Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:31:01 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-197282 Maranda,

People grow with their blogs! If The Simple Dollar is no longer a good fit, there are hundreds of other personal finance blogs out there. Maybe you could even start one of your own!

]]> By: Maranda http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-197085 Maranda Tue, 04 Mar 2008 13:26:36 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-197085 Hey Trent! I just wanted to tell you that I feel like your articles and getting deeper and deeper and deeper…What happened to simple. When I first starting reading, I was really impressed. These were things that I could use, practical everyday advice for the home. Now…it’s like advice for running a business and blah blah blah! Please keep it simple, as in SIMPLE Dollar. Thanks a bunch!

]]> By: Linda http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196805 Linda Tue, 04 Mar 2008 03:54:38 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196805 I thought your article on hygene was right on target. Most of us know what you stated, but I personally have tended to get a little relaxed as now I am not going into a 9 to 5 job every day. It made me see that our self esteem can be linked in some ways to our grooming.

I have also noticed that when some people come under a lot of pressure or begin getting depressed, it may show up in their grooming.

Another part of the article I thought was right on target was the part about the work dress code and dressing on the high end instead of the low end of your company’s dress standard. I know for a fact that if this advice is taken, it will play a role in the speed a person advances.

Trent, don’t change your style because a few people are offended or critical. It is a very small percentage of your readers and the rest of us LOVE what you are doing. Even those who criticize you are devoted readers. You are doing a great job.

Can’t wait to purchase your book. Let us know when it becomes available for pre-purchase.

Linda

]]> By: Jillian http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196683 Jillian Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:02:52 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196683 I agree with Tom. My husband is one of those people who avoids making important choices for fear of being wrong. It holds him back in so many ways, and I hate watching all his potential wasting away while he tries to convince himself he’s happy where he is.

You have to balance the introspection against the knowledge that sh*t happens and you can’t control everything. I think learning to use a ‘failed’ outcome to your advantage is more important that endlessly questioning what you could have done better.

]]> By: Sandy http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196643 Sandy Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:33:58 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196643 I agree w/Joe – you rationalized and defended yourself, and didn’t apologize, and as a result came across as being very self-serving and self-righteous in that other article. If you meant to address the minority, as you stated in your comments, it wasn’t stated in your article, and so a “I apologize for offending the majority of my readers; I was trying to reach a minority…” statement would have sufficed. The thing I’ve learned about writing is that sometimes when we write, we hold thoughts in our head because we assume that those thoughts are so obvious that they are a given, and then later, when we receive feedback from many readers, we realize that we should have spelled those thoughts out on paper, because for some readers, they weren’t obvious or a given. This has happened to me too sometimes when I write, and then someone calls me on something I neglected to mention and like you, I was so surprised because I thought everyone had the same thoughts in their head like I do — some do, some don’t! There are some things that are so obvious to many, but not to others. Water under the bridge, life moves on – you’re a good guy, we all know that.

]]> By: Money Blue Book http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196539 Money Blue Book Mon, 03 Mar 2008 18:43:16 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196539 Blaming oneself is okay in terms of promoting humility and self accountability, but one shouldn’t resort to self deprecation right off the bat.

Maybe it’s my legal background but I always find myself defending the validity of my position first and promptly attributing and shifting blame and causation to other parties. Force of training and habit.
-Raymond

]]> By: Trent http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196503 Trent Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:48:22 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196503 The Simple Dollar regularly generates discussion in areas that I would have never believed before I started it. This is a good thing.

]]> By: Ria Kennedy http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196488 Ria Kennedy Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:26:42 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196488 This is very timely and I appreciate it. Thank you.

]]> By: Brent http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196473 Brent Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:53:16 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196473 I guess a more ‘direct’ way of saying what I did in my previous post would be, “Be a man and own up to your sins, make restitution, and remember that there is a reason why the phrase ‘Goto Hell.’ exists”

]]> By: Brent http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196472 Brent Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:50:28 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196472 I did not see anything wrong with your personal hygiene articles either. Part of me thinks that if you can not give adults the benifit of the doubt, you should not speak with adults. People will complain about anything if you give them the shot, too. If you were to map out peoples objects to the rhetorical maps, you will see that many of those objections are on the Pathos level. I don’t think I have to go further to explain the objection to that type of argument.

]]> By: Louie http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196471 Louie Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:41:45 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196471 i dont really agree with this entire post trent. On the whole yes, it is very vital to accept responsibility for one’s mistake, but also it is easy to become a chronic problem to consistently take the “responsibility” for a mistake. Personally i do this all the time when something goes wrong i think of a million reasons that i “shoulda woulda coulda” and when it really boils down to it, it was something completely out of the sphere of my “control.” learning how to not accept a mistake as yours is just as crucial as taking responsibility.

]]> By: budgetsaresexy http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196467 budgetsaresexy Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:31:19 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196467 I would like to applaud you for just throwing this out there. Keeping an open mind is definitely something to always consider, as well as understanding things will not always come across as planned.

Honesty is always appreciated :)

]]> By: SJean http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196465 SJean Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:28:16 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196465 I really appreciate the willingness to admit your mistake, even if it is just in the articles tone. I find that is something that you are a little weak in–people criticize and you are quick to rationalize why you were right. Thank you for proiving me wrong!

]]> By: Trent http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196453 Trent Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:08:33 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196453 “personally, I didn’t get a condescending tone from your hygiene article – but then again, I am pretty thick-skinned and direct in my own communications”

So am I. I usually try to be very direct and when I see a negative comment, I usually think that somehow I’ve just failed to communicate a point. It often takes stepping back and doing analysis like this to see that I’ve done something else wrong, usually something more fundamental.

]]> By: clevelis http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196443 clevelis Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:00:18 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196443 I agree. Being able to make mistakes and learn from them has helped me be a “better” risk taker. By this I mean that I feel more free to try new things and not be ruled by fear or “what if’s”. Of course, this does not take the place of wisdom, common sense and such…

]]> By: Frugal Dad http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196440 Frugal Dad Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:55:48 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/03/03/learning-the-right-lessons-from-your-mistakes/#comment-196440 Few are willing to own their mistakes, especially in public. I admire the fact that you are man enough to do that when the time calls for it (personally, I didn’t get a condescending tone from your hygiene article – but then again, I am pretty thick-skinned and direct in my own communications).

My wife also has a knack for keeping me on track. You know those amusement park rides with the old cars that you can “drive” leisurely around a track, but they are guided by a center rail so you can’t go too far to the right, or too far to the left? That center rail is my wife. She keeps me from going off on one of my wild entrepreneurial tangents, keeping me on track. Occasionally, I’ll steer her a little off center, and that give and take provides the balance needed for a great relationship.

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