I found out when I went to military basic training that I was much better at following directions than the average person. I was the first in my flight to disassemble and reassemble my rifle, and I did both in under 30 seconds each. The next closest person took over a minute for each.

The big tradeoff: Making decisions by myself is really really hard. That's why I play most non-linear games with a guide... And why I find it really really hard to play Elder Scrolls and Fallout games unless I get specific inspiration. It's a terrible, terrible thing having to decide your character's looks, skills, name, allegiances, morals, etc etc. Though, I am trying really hard to overcome that by playing the ultimate sandbox more often: D&D.