Comments on: Deliberate Practice and Personal Finance

By: kleanchap

kleanchap — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:56:29 +0000

Love this article! Very good blend of Deliberate Practice with Personal Finances!

By: yp

yp — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 08:58:49 +0000

Great concept that could be applied to many situations. I’m surprised you didn’t get more comments on it.

By: rhbee

rhbee — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 06:12:14 +0000

So Trent I’d love to see what you have to say to comment #12.

By: rhbee

rhbee — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 22:24:03 +0000

One thing I’ve learned from a life time of teaching is that practice does indeed make perfect. However, what is made perfect is not always what you intended. This can be good if you are big enough to accept someone taking your lesson and using it for themselves in their own way. Your oatmeal for example. This can also be good if you can keep your perspective wide enough to see that the side effects of practice are also good. Learning to repeat something exactly so that the result is consistent is good. Right hand on, Left hand off is also relevant here. You may be making oatmeal but you are really learning how to cook. Sometimes it takes forever to learn the lessons of this post, I myself hated practice but loved the game when I was in college. It wasn’t until I began coaching that I realized I was teaching people something someone else had made me practice.

By: Firozali A. Mulla MBA PhD

Firozali A. Mulla MBA PhD — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 11:26:05 +0000

Sir
It is not the speech that can make you or break you. The ..eh..urs do not make the economy. There is plenty of water if there are hiccups. The veto applied all the times is bad, is noticed and there are who are end of the stick, the ones who do not want the veto all the time. Veto is applied when we see the end of tunnel and there is no silver cloud. The Kennedy blockade of Cuba against Russia in 60s was a classic example. Then if we carry on using the veto all the time, it sounds like the father telling the daughter not to stay on late nights or, “I will lock you out”. It carries on until the daughter marries and father keeps on telling the same to the younger daughter who scoffs this. Blair takes job to boost ‘prestige quotient’
Tony Blair’s decision to take on yet another high-profile unpaid role – leading an international campaign to cut carbon emissions by 50 per cent before 2050 – has led to speculation that he is either preparing himself for not being chosen as the EU’s first president (he’ll be too busy anyway) or that he is desperately building his “prestige quotient” in an effort to persuade Angela Merkel and other detractors that there is a do-gooding heart beating beneath that money-grubbing exterior.
This is exactly we see from Mr. Bush. Veto after veto until it is so diluted that those who want to put anything do not hear but, “Here it comes aging, and the speaker with sixth sense knows this and falls flat on his face hence uhs ers tumbling again and again. Here is the test. Listen to the speeches before. Mr. Bush has made so many mistakes in YO BLAIRE issue, going shoulder to shoulder with British and there is no one now. The repeatedly drawing the road maps of the Middle East. The Middle East and others notice the ink is no longer in the pen to draw the map or the ink marred with no sense.
Did we not see the hole ripped in the Gaza? Palestinians move for some days into Egypt. Whatever the reason, the hole was sealed then Israelis bombed the innocents until there was an outcry in the TVs and the world. All wonder what the maps of peace are for. Does Mr. Bush not hear this? The dollar is at the lowest and gold at 1009. Recession whether we like it shows in form of the lending bank defaulting and FED coming in to help. There you have the ers and ums . You do not need a doctor, you need analysts who can see the truth for false, correct this, and tell Mr. Bush. Enough of your shoving democracy to those who do not want.
The dollar will be saved later
I thank you
Firozali A. Mulla MBA PhD
P.O.Box 6044
Dar-Es-Salaam
Tanzania
East Africa

By: Jack

Jack — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 06:49:49 +0000

I don’t think losing sleep over a market drop can only mean that you should stop investing in the market. Why not learn more about the market so that you don’t lose sleep in the first place?

By: KJ

KJ — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 06:30:21 +0000

My favorite oatmeal:

Old-fashioned oats.
Freezer blueberries (and cranberries too if you’ve got them) plopped into the water just before it boils.
Cinnamon.
Unflavored soymilk.
Raw sugar so the top is crunchy.

Awesome.

By: Small Cents

Small Cents — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 06:27:14 +0000

Thanks for this article Trent! I loved it! This is one of the best articles you’ve written in a long time; it reminds me of why I began to read your blog in the first place- really well written content.

By: Know The Ledge

Know The Ledge — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 23:39:42 +0000

Nice post, I totally agree with the benefits of moving your focus away from the outcome and more on the process. It’s easy to get discouraged quickly when you feel like you’re doing something you don’t like in order to get something you want. It’s much better when you can turn that positive action into something that you actually enjoy.

By: Bella

Bella — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 23:29:42 +0000

Interesting article!
Again, with anything, you have to try it again and again with the same TECHNIQUE and different variables to get to the result you want.
Same thing when you set up a budget: it rarely works the first time!
Same thing with health or medecine: it’s not an exact science and, it is trial and error, sometimes against the popular beliefs.

By: Lurker Carl

Lurker Carl — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 22:38:36 +0000

Very good! Frugal folks need a wide variety of skills and most become quite talented with their various money saving techniques. People don’t instantly become thrifty overnight, it is a large learning curve to effectively pare down spending and takes time to become efficient and proficient. Practice makes perfect.

By: 7million7years

7million7years — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:46:46 +0000

Outstanding, Trent! That’s why (despite the perhaps overly-catchy) name of my blog, I don’t like ‘one trick’ finance ponies … you know the type: How I made a $1 Million in [you fill in the blank: stocks; real-estate; 401k savings; eating other people's trash; whatever] … you have to learn the SKILLS of money, first.

By: Toaduni44

Toaduni44 — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:41:56 +0000

Your Tom Petty comment got a laugh out of me…

I just wanted to say that I really enjoy your blog. You convey your ideas effectively and do it without being arrogant or sounding like a huckster like a lot of financial writers do.

By: Healthy Amelia

Healthy Amelia — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:38:41 +0000

I love this post! It’s almost counter-intuitive how you kind of have to let go of the outcome and just focus on the technique. It’s like meditation: if you sit down and think hard about how it’s supposed to be making you more relaxed, you can’t relax. But if you just focus on your breathing and let go of the end result, you wind up more relaxed. Go figure. I didn’t really see the connection right away with personal finance but I’m slowly trying to incorporate a more mindful approach to how I go about that as well. Thanks for the great perspective!

By: Writer's Coin

Writer's Coin — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:37:00 +0000

It's really all about practice, but there is another article out there I've referenced that covers this all in much more depth. I think the bit about technique is key and is usually the easiest thing to overlook.

By: budgetsaresexy

budgetsaresexy — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:20:09 +0000

I pretty much agree w/ alot of this. the only exception being that sometimes i feel like “jumping in” and getting started could be beneficial for those who never start and/or have a.d.d. like myself ;)

And i’m totally w/ you on the stock market situation these days. Although i get bored and check the market daily, it’s always key to keep that long-term goal in mind and set that freak-out-meter to extra low!