Learning Goals for July

darren garcia
Jul 10, 2017 · 3 min read

Now that I have more free time, I can finally devote most of my time to learn things that I’ve always wanted to learn and continue those that I’ve already started but had to set aside because of other responsibilities.

Here are some of the things on my list:

1. Success Intelligence

In a manic society obsessed with winners, it is necessary to define your own idea of what success truly means. Many have been said on how to achieve success, but few have been written on how to manage success.

I’ve heard countless of stories of how people became worse-off after winning a lottery or being promoted to a top position. If you are not prepared to handle success, then circumstances will disillusion you to pursue the wrong things in life.

For someone starting a career, I think it is essential to know your non-negotiables — things that you cannot afford to lose or forego. These can only be defined after you have fully clarified what your values are.

Learning this requires a period of introspection and a healthy exercise of self-confrontation. You can also learn from the timeless wisdom embedded in the biographies of great men, coupled with some sociological observations and philosophical excerpts. I’m currently reading “The Road to Character” by David Brooks, and “Success Intelligence” by Robert Holden. My personal favorite when it comes to this topic is the Bible. It contains a lot of practical insights not just how to jumpstart a career but also how to live life.

2.Trading

The stock market is an interesting place to grow wealth. I just love how the behavior of the stocks results from the interplay of human psychology, macroeconomics, politics, and other interesting variables.

More than money, what amazes me with the concept of trading is how much it is closely related to character-building. You just need to stick to few solid principles and believe in them with full conviction. Once you veer away from the foundational principles you’ve set yourself, you are bound to see your whole strategy fail.

3. Agri-preneurship

Having just earned my bachelor’s degree in agribusiness management, I want to take my rudimentary knowledge to a higher level of understanding. Besides from keenly updating myself with the trends in the industry, I’m trying to discover opportunities that could be the next big thing for the Philippines. I might not be able to execute a grand business plan at once, but it is always important to hone and nurture a personal vision.

4.Supply Chain Management

There’s almost no reason to not learn anything nowadays. So if you still don’t know, there are thousands of courses you can take online for free. These courses are hosted by globally-renowned universities. I’m using Coursera (coursera.org) for my supply management course. I’m simultaneously taking up a Marketing Course from Wharton and a Strategic Management Course from Copenhagen Business School. If you have the time, a 5-week course can be completed in just a week. I’m learning supply management because I got interested on how advanced logistics has become in this age of globalization. Also, simply because I’m clueless about how most logistics companies work and got curious enough to study the subject.

5. Writing

Don’t you hate it when you know you have a great idea but couldn’t find the right words to get the message across? We often miss opportunities to add value to someone else just because we fail to communicate properly. It takes practice to be able to glue fragmented thoughts together. I don’t have any bold ambitions of being a famous writer someday. But I know that if I aspire to be a great leader, then I need to continuously sharpen my skills in communication, including better coherence in my writings. The simple task of creating a blog posts forces me to review my grammar and revisit my lessons on subject-verb agreement.

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