The other day, I saw a meme so good and so powerful, I right-clicked that bad-boy and dropped it straight into my ultra-dank meme stash.
Supposedly, it was a letter written by a school principal to encourage students and parents at exam time.
See, I never needed “trigonometry” or “college algebra”.
I said so at the time during secondary school, where “Trigonometry and College Algebra” was the last math course I took to fulfill the state-mandated 3-credit requirement – after already losing my soul on Geometry and Algebra II.
Yet, I was forced to take these advanced-level classes, rather than maybe just go lower on the math scale or take Business Math, on the erroneous assumption that since I was classified as “gifted” and could easily pretty much ace any other subject with little to moderate effort, I should be “advanced” in mathematics, too.
I couldn’t (still can’t) solve an isosceles trapezoid for W, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t even state that correctly.
Yet, I was having to spend up to 90% of my homework and studying time struggling through subjects I could neither stand, nor begin to UNDERstand.
The private tutors, and me dominating every math teacher’s office hours every single week, didn’t help either.
I received the paperwork to register for Advanced Placement courses and deficiency reports in Algebra on the same day.
Bullshit.
That’s what that was.
I already knew: whatever I decided to major in college or do with my life, it would not require mathematical ability beyond the basic addition/multiplication tables we learn in elementary school.
Meanwhile, I was missing out on the SHEER JOY I should have been getting out of my education spending time on the things I actually enjoy, simply because I didn’t need to do much to excel in them.
Yeah, that’s backwards.
See, time has proven that I was absolutely right and “they” were abysmally and embarrassingly wrong.
When I took my aptitude tests upon entering college, it was recommended I take remedial math, and suggested if I didn’t want to go that far, I could try two classes to fulfill my general education requirement.
You guessed it – trigonometry and college algebra – AGAIN – except this time they were two separate courses (double the fun).
At college, I had the same instructor for both courses, who was a pretty good teacher and to this day gets raves on those “rate my teacher” websites.
I allowed trigonometry to suck the life out of my experience, only to barely pass and not remember a thing.
When we got to college algebra, I went to the teacher and asked her outright how I could do the least amount possible and still pass.
She suggested I focus more on the weekly quizzes than the major exams, since it would be less I’d have to remember – if I could do well on those, the curve would bail me out on the midterm and final.
It worked.
I got it over with and didn’t lose anymore sleep over it.
I discovered you can miss out on AUTHENTIC excellence by over-focusing on FORCED excellence, and it’s okay to skate through the latter and focus on the former.
Yep, it’s perfectly okay to do the absolute minimum required in areas that do not interest you, give you no benefit, and as far as you can see will have no impact either way on your trajectory, in order to create more space for your intersection of your brilliance and your passion.
To conclusively defeat the “you never know when you’ll have a job when you’ll need those subjects” – if you decide later on a path that requires these things, and develop an interest in them, you can master them at a later date.
Continuing education courses and online learning are available to adults for a reason and serve exactly the purpose described above.
In Groundhog Day is an Event, Not a Business Strategy, I urge you to ask this question over and over, every day:
“What would actually happen if we didn’t do this at all?”
The answers you’ll find are a powerful GPS.
In our Jumpstart Program, when we draw the map for you to reach your success, we look for Point A, Point B, Point C, etc. to Point Z.
We ask this question.
Then, we show you how to save time and optimize your money by skipping straight from A to Z.
Adam Hommey
Adam Hommey is a speaker, author, trainer, and consultant with nearly 20 years’ experience helping entrepreneurs, like you, WIN at the game of business and marketing so you can thrive from your intersection of your brilliance and your passion while making a difference for your community, market, and audience.
As creator of The Podcast R.E.A.C.H. System, Adam helps you create and launch your podcast as your key networking, client attraction, and Celebrity Expert Branding tool.
Adam is the author of Groundhog Day is an Event, Not a Business Strategy, and a contributing author to Journeys to Success: The Millennial Edition – both international Amazon best-sellers.
He has spoken on scores of podcasts and stages around the country for many years and is a sought-after expert on topics related to launching your podcast, hosting your podcast, entrepreneurship, business creation, communication skills, and more.
Adam calls Las Vegas, known to some (at least him) as “The Hottest City in America”, home.
His interests include reading, history, cats, cigars, 80s music, Vegan recipes, NLP, alternative history scenarios, and the novel he’s been working on for 30 years that he may finish if things slow down (they won’t).
The other day, I saw a meme so good and so powerful, I right-clicked that bad-boy and dropped it straight into my ultra-dank meme stash.
Supposedly, it was a letter written by a school principal to encourage students and parents at exam time.
See, I never needed “trigonometry” or “college algebra”.
I said so at the time during secondary school, where “Trigonometry and College Algebra” was the last math course I took to fulfill the state-mandated 3-credit requirement – after already losing my soul on Geometry and Algebra II.
Yet, I was forced to take these advanced-level classes, rather than maybe just go lower on the math scale or take Business Math, on the erroneous assumption that since I was classified as “gifted” and could easily pretty much ace any other subject with little to moderate effort, I should be “advanced” in mathematics, too.
I couldn’t (still can’t) solve an isosceles trapezoid for W, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t even state that correctly.
Yet, I was having to spend up to 90% of my homework and studying time struggling through subjects I could neither stand, nor begin to UNDERstand.
The private tutors, and me dominating every math teacher’s office hours every single week, didn’t help either.
I received the paperwork to register for Advanced Placement courses and deficiency reports in Algebra on the same day.
Bullshit.
That’s what that was.
I already knew: whatever I decided to major in college or do with my life, it would not require mathematical ability beyond the basic addition/multiplication tables we learn in elementary school.
Meanwhile, I was missing out on the SHEER JOY I should have been getting out of my education spending time on the things I actually enjoy, simply because I didn’t need to do much to excel in them.
Yeah, that’s backwards.
See, time has proven that I was absolutely right and “they” were abysmally and embarrassingly wrong.
When I took my aptitude tests upon entering college, it was recommended I take remedial math, and suggested if I didn’t want to go that far, I could try two classes to fulfill my general education requirement.
You guessed it – trigonometry and college algebra – AGAIN – except this time they were two separate courses (double the fun).
At college, I had the same instructor for both courses, who was a pretty good teacher and to this day gets raves on those “rate my teacher” websites.
I allowed trigonometry to suck the life out of my experience, only to barely pass and not remember a thing.
When we got to college algebra, I went to the teacher and asked her outright how I could do the least amount possible and still pass.
She suggested I focus more on the weekly quizzes than the major exams, since it would be less I’d have to remember – if I could do well on those, the curve would bail me out on the midterm and final.
It worked.
I got it over with and didn’t lose anymore sleep over it.
I discovered you can miss out on AUTHENTIC excellence by over-focusing on FORCED excellence, and it’s okay to skate through the latter and focus on the former.
Yep, it’s perfectly okay to do the absolute minimum required in areas that do not interest you, give you no benefit, and as far as you can see will have no impact either way on your trajectory, in order to create more space for your intersection of your brilliance and your passion.
To conclusively defeat the “you never know when you’ll have a job when you’ll need those subjects” – if you decide later on a path that requires these things, and develop an interest in them, you can master them at a later date.
Continuing education courses and online learning are available to adults for a reason and serve exactly the purpose described above.
In Groundhog Day is an Event, Not a Business Strategy, I urge you to ask this question over and over, every day:
“What would actually happen if we didn’t do this at all?”
The answers you’ll find are a powerful GPS.
In our Jumpstart Program, when we draw the map for you to reach your success, we look for Point A, Point B, Point C, etc. to Point Z.
We ask this question.
Then, we show you how to save time and optimize your money by skipping straight from A to Z.
Adam Hommey
Adam Hommey is a speaker, author, trainer, and consultant with nearly 20 years’ experience helping entrepreneurs, like you, WIN at the game of business and marketing so you can thrive from your intersection of your brilliance and your passion while making a difference for your community, market, and audience.
As creator of The Podcast R.E.A.C.H. System, Adam helps you create and launch your podcast as your key networking, client attraction, and Celebrity Expert Branding tool.
Adam is the author of Groundhog Day is an Event, Not a Business Strategy, and a contributing author to Journeys to Success: The Millennial Edition – both international Amazon best-sellers.
He has spoken on scores of podcasts and stages around the country for many years and is a sought-after expert on topics related to launching your podcast, hosting your podcast, entrepreneurship, business creation, communication skills, and more.
Adam calls Las Vegas, known to some (at least him) as “The Hottest City in America”, home.
His interests include reading, history, cats, cigars, 80s music, Vegan recipes, NLP, alternative history scenarios, and the novel he’s been working on for 30 years that he may finish if things slow down (they won’t).
