So I recently published a list of the five reasons I’m not awesome. I was resistant to posting anything like this entry, as I have come
1. I am well-read.
I live in a country where one in four people over the age of 18 doesn’t read a single book in a year, and the typical American reads four per year, I’m an outlier at 55-60 books in a typical year. Read three books on a single subject, and you know more about the topic than 99% of the population. It also plays into the next point…
2. I’m an autodidact.
I think that since the 5th grade, I’ve learned more from my own explorations than I have from any sort of formal education (including college). Web design, web development, SQL/MySQL, Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator/Dreamweaver, typography, font design, bicycle framebuilding (most of it, I did have some good instruction), exercise science, cryptography, biology, space science, machining, electronics/embedded systems, and basic Linux systems administration are all stuff that I’ve delved into, and that’s just off the top of my head. In the future, I’ll be learning how to draw (self-directed), how to speak Italian (DuoLingo, plus more), how to cast metal parts, calculus, and more. (Note: someday I should write a blog post that’s nothing but a list of my skills, with a Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert rating for each, and what domain each falls under.)
3. I never want to be the smartest person in the room.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m comfortable with the situation if I’m the go-to guy for knowledge, but in a single-domain topic, I prefer to be learning and absorbing as much as I can.
4. I’m aware of my shortcomings. Or, at least, I think I am.
I swear too much. I’m too impetuous sometimes. I carry the baggage of the past with me and it influences my behavior in ways that are not positive or constructive. Now you know why I’m in therapy and working my ass off to be better in everything I do.
5. I seem to be the only American that never got a rash from my FitBit.