Keep Calm and Don't Move Your Stops.....

A little risk management saves a lot of fan cleaning!

The Purpose of Life is Joy!!

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Reflections 2018

This year's reflection will be a bit different from prior years. I won't be doing a deep dive into the top ten things that most reflects the accomplishments of the last year.

Instead, even in the middle of a higher level of success in all areas, in the last four months of the year I discovered something about myself.

Through meditation and being aware coupled with a specific series of events, I discovered a hidden arrogant streak in myself I long suspected was there but presented in a very ugly way for me this last year.

I won't go into details but just when you think you have something figured out and start bragging about it, the universe conspires to take you down a few notches.

Whilst 2018 has been a wonderful year in all areas and much progress has been made, there are two areas that will be a focus for me in the coming year.

Patience

Humility.

This one is difficult. If you recognize the need for a bit more humility in your life, how do you express it when you achieve it or worse, how do you pursue humility without looking like a complete ass? The very act of trying is the exact wrong thing to do. It is or it isn't. And right now it isn't. Maybe my awareness is enough? I don't know. Just going with it for now.

I am doing my annual review and my 2019 planning. Something I have been doing now for about two weeks. My normal advance planning has always revolved around achievements, goals, material acquisitions, etc. Last year, the advance planning began to shift toward more esoteric things and this year is no different.

I've discovered I just want to be a better person and that other stuff will naturally fall into place when its the appropriate time. So more journaling, more meditation, better health, less worry, more faith, etc. These are the kinds of things on my advance plan.

If you want to get a copy of my advance planner and comprehensive journal tool, just click here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13xnVZz1-4Ac9VhIM731l7Qzoc8KoxZuDmUxkVGwYGiM/edit?usp=sharing

Its designed to record plans and goals, new habits, quarterly action steps, ideas for the following year, etc. It can be printed double sided and folded small enough to fit in your pocket and read every day. Ideally you print on 11x17 paper for maximum readability but I have printed on 8x11 and while small can still be read. Someone with better editing skills than me could turn this into a full bleed document and it would be beautiful. If you want some help with it, just email me and we can chat. The form is editable so  you can change the categories to suit your needs. There area couple of religious overtones but those come from my journey and while yours might not include this component, the concept are valid and will serve you I think.

One side is all about mental stuff and the other side is mostly tactical stuff.

Anyway, use it if you like it.

My last trading day was last Thursday. I have been in a slump lately. Mostly due to the lack of patience. Patience wins the day, every day. The drunken monkey that is my frontal cortex seems to have been on a bit of drinking binge of late and getting him to shut up has been more difficult than earlier in the year. As a result, I gave back some of my earlier profits. I am not real happy about that but I think I finally became aware of how drunk he actually was and have taken some steps to quiet him down a bit more.

I won't trade again until the second week of January and then it will be single lots on a single chart. Every time I think I have multiple time frames mastered, I get schooled by the market. If I stick to a single chart, regardless of the time frame, I do much better. I look at Sandy's charts and I love the simplicity of how they look and the obvious turning points they seem to contain but every time I have those open, I just seem to be overwhelmed with it. This means I must stay my single chart course.

Tradeovate has been my platform of choice this year since it can be accessed via browser on any device. I like this functionality but the platform does not have a ton of advanced features. That said, I don't really require many advanced features so it serves me well and I intend to keep using it for the foreseeable future.

Till next year.

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