Note to Self - Understanding and leveraging one's Body Clock

This thing has been running on my mind for long. I have reflected a lot on this too.

My thoughts are specifically about three activities which are key to my lifestyle.

1. Work i.e Trading - I cannot do much about the timing here, its fixed. But Yes I know I am a better trader in the mornings.

2. Creative Work - This includes blogging, writing, reading, and every thing else that I do. Early mornings 5 to 6 works best here for me. For work such as carpentry etc. weekends are best.

3. Exercise/Running - Here, I need a bit of glucose in my body, perhaps a cup of coffee and I am good to go. I have observed my ability to exercise in the mornings anytime between 6 to 8 is far far better than any other time slot. 

With these three things sorted, I plan all other activities in the leftover time slots. This is obviously a work in progress. 

I still remember one of my colleagues at work used to talk about Cognitive time vs. Chronological time, only now I have been able to grasp as to what he was alluding to.

Note to Self - Learning from Losses

There are three things I learned from loosing, ie. taking losses, sometimes large losses. 

1. Personality Fit - I realized what kind of trading style fits my personality, to what extent am I comfortable taking losses. That is when I became damn sure, that it has to be scalping/Intraday trading for me. I cannot think of overnight positions and managing those positions first thing in the morning. I also realized I do not like taking losses once the trade moves in my favor.

2. High Probability Set-ups - Now this one, is learnt better when losses happen consistently in certain set ups, for me it was Mean Reversion Trades + Scaling-in which used to cause disasters.  I thought about it and found quite a few solutions to the problem. Usually if a set up is consistently failing, the reverse of that should be profitable, and that worked for me. I also realized the potential risks of averaging down, and the context in which it works. 

3. Money/Profits are fungible - This one becomes relevant when you make up the losses that you made. The whole process of loosing and then making it up, gives you a sense of confidence, it also helps you compare and contrast your own approach to trading then and now. Lastly, It makes you more open to taking defined risks.

So here's my thank you to 'Losses' that I made. I am glad you came.

Note to Self - Full-time trading & freedom

Was speaking with some friends over lunch today, and they asked me as to why I choose to be an entrepreneur, yes that is how they look at full time trading. My immediate answer was "freedom". 

One of them then asked, why does one need so much freedom, in other words what's the use of that freedom. That is something I was being asked for the first time by someone. This time around, I thought for a few minutes and said "Freedom to spend as much time as I want to, on becoming better at my chosen vocation"

Note to self - “Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect.”― Eleanor Roosevelt