What are you talented at?

The answer to this question might not be in front of us.

It could be behind us.

One helpful rule of thumb for knowing where you might have a little extra talent is to consider what you were obsessively doing before you were ten years old. There’s a strong connection between what interests you and what you’re good at. People are naturally drawn to the things they feel comfortable doing, and comfort is a marker for talent.

-Scott Adams, How To Fail At Almost Everything And Still Win Big

When I read this passage, there was one issue I had.

I don’t remember doing anything obsessively before the age of ten.

I emailed my mom to ask, and this is what she said:

You were crazy about any kind of ball as a baby and for years afterward. Dad remembers how tireless you were about putting the basketball in the rim one more time in your little b-ball hoop. You really liked to be read to from the time you were a baby. I read to you a lot even after you could read books that were too hard for you to read at that time. And then you started reading really advanced books for your age in Saudi. Before you were 10, and after you were 10, we would come back to the states from Saudi each summer for vacation and you would buy Forbes magazines and read them from cover to cover. We would just shake our heads. You probably bought other similar ones but that is the one we remember.

Maybe this works.

Nearly 30 years later, I am documenting what I read, and still thinking about finance/economics.

And I still like shooting pool too, so there’s that.