Interest

They say that “interest governs memory.”  I reckon that is right.  I know that when I am interested in something, I tend to be all ears, and take what is being said on board.  I dissect it and examine it.  If it is true, I use it, and if not I extract stuff and use what is useful to me.
I hear people complain they cannot remember stuff.  I think it is a fact of getting older, and it also can be a case of needing to learn it.  At other times it is not important, and so it is not taken in.
I do not have a problem with not knowing stuff initially, but I do have a problem with not being willing to learn what is needed.  I have found if I do not know what I need, it will come back to bite me.   Rarely does ignoring it cause it to go away.  In some cases, it has meant I needed to do what I derived no pleasure in doing, but I had learned it needed to be done.  So often things are a means to an end, rather than an end in themselves.  The “big picture” is always made up of many little pictures.  To achieve my “big picture” necessitates me doing stuff I do not necessarily enjoy doing.
One of the things that stuck with me from work was my boss saying “you are doing what you want to do, rather than what needs to be done.”  That is easier and I enjoy that.
There is a saying “there are many voices in the world and all are significant.”  It seems to me everyones’ thoughts and ideas matter, but not all are applicable to me.  I try to take and use what applies.  Sometimes I succeed, and sometimes I fail.  My goal is success anyway.