Apr

9

I thought some might be interested in the following title: "Speed Mathematics - Secret Skills for Quick Calculation," by Bill Handley (published by Wiley, interestingly enough). Although completely discovered by accident, this book may actually have changed my life, and has taught me a valuable lesson about perceptions in life and the markets. I'd like to share it, if I may.

Aside from the useful techniques in the book, the most valuable lesson learned is an indirect one: The most hopeless seeming situations may carry the gravitas they do largely because a specific problem owns a person, rather than the person owning their problem. This limitation may then be continually reinforced -usually by a combination of self and external influences (teachers, friends/family, culture, market etc). The key to victory over this persistent problem seems to lie in finding a solution that is non-standard for one's particular predicament. Sometimes you can search far and wide - and apply! - a standard solution with no joy. But that doesn't mean the answer isn't out there. Indeed, the biggest problem in one's life may be overcome by some very simple solution that is heretofore hidden/overlooked.

The techniques I discovered in this book are not new, but I have had twenty years of discouragement and resignation over some of my math skills. I believed I simply wasn't "quantitative." However, at any time I might have stumbled across this technique and many things may have been different. As persistent and pervasive as the problem was, so was the solution. Within 30 minutes of learning the new technique, the problem that had haunted me for so long was solved. Most important, the problem wasn't with an intellectual limitation I thought and believed I possessed. Rather, the problem was the techniques I was applying to overcome that "perceived" limitation. Within a day, I actually saw a new and exciting path for my life - all because of being shown a way of "owning" and changing my "limitation." My brain was the same, but my methods had changed.

I think some of the biggest limitations to overcoming problems are rooted in pride. It's a tough thing to seek help in a way that damages your self-perception (such as consulting a basic math book to overcome problems with basic computation). But what a small price to pay! How many of the problems that we face - the ones that threaten to overwhelm us - could be easily solved by a yet unconsidered solution or a person we've not yet met? What would be different in your life if the biggest limitation you had were removed? I can tell you from first-hand experience, it is a most exhilarating feeling.

Sometimes a problem may truly be beyond our powers to change. We're all frail, with diverse randomness/future-coping mechanisms. We must be vigilant of our true weaknesses, but we must be equally vigilant of those "false" weaknesses that we have accepted as part of the fabric of our reality. For all that, discoveries such as the one I made may give some hope that the tide may yet turn favorably. Some may just have lost hope in the possibility that a solution could be closer than they think - and may even be hidden by their own hubris.

There are numerous other insights that arise from this foundational idea, but those can be left to the meta.

Craig Mee adds:

Yesterday somebody mentioned to me about buying a birthday gift. They couldn't quite find the right object they had in their mind. This person commented, "I've just got to let this go, and get the idea right out of my mind or I'll never move on."

Maybe in markets at times this could be a good idea. Sometimes it seems that we spend too much time analyzing the outcome without spending enough time on the suitability of the initial conception.


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  1. Phil Bolte on April 11, 2007 8:41 am

    “Lateral Thinking”, by Edward DeBono, is another technique that has benefitted me greatly over the years. I have had good success with the “methodical” process, but when I get stuck, lateral thinking usually gets my solution.

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