Am I dumb?

About me: Foreigner, graduated at very good school for computer science with decent grades (non-target for BB though), ton of extracurriculars and fluent in multiple languages. I currently work in M&A Oil&Gas for a MM firm.

I USED to think of me as someone smart, who could learn things very fast. In college, I would always start studying shortly before exams, and I never had any issue. The thing is, I would always forget everything I studied shortly thereafter, as if my mind saw no purpose of accumulating knowledge after the exams were over. At that time, I felt that it was not an issue, since my purpose in college was always to "proceed to next semester".

Fast forward to my current situation, and I feel that I have big issues.

At my current job, whenever we are working on something and some days go by, I always forget critical data about the current deal. One example is the following:

"Ajax, what was last year EBITDA for company X?"
"Oh, I forgot, let me check that for you"
"Ajax, you did research on that company last week, how the hell can you forget this?"

This is a silly examplle, but it happens all the time. I am very worried that I might give the impression of being someone dumb/unprepared/lazy. I am very ambitious and hard working, and this issue with my memory is driving me down lately.

Has anyone of you guys dealt with this kind of thing? What were your strategies to improve your memory? I was thinking about going to a neurologist to get some professional opnion.

Thanks in advance

 
GeniusMemories.:

I think your memorization is very poor, boost your memories by drinking a lot of water

hahahaha

We can now tell all of the medical researchers to stop all of the research on dementia and Alzheimer's, those are just some dehydrated mother fuckers. Imagine what Pfizer will charge for a glass of water once they discover these healing powers of water!

 

This happens alot to me as well, I remember the most useless information from talking with friends a month ago but can't remember what the companies D/E ratio or whatever was that I just researched a few days ago. The only thing that some what works is just making sure I read, re-read and go over again what the important numbers are. Repetition is key.

 

I knew an associate that would take 30 minutes before heading out and read over his notes, key facts and numbers of his deals, etc. Look, if you love what you do and find it fascinating enough that you'd do it as a hobby, you wouldn't have trouble remembering it. Things that pique your interest stay in your head as you continuously think about it.

If you do, then take notes, review your notes before big meetings, and learn to read actively.

 

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