Above is a pic I took doing my usual sunset jogs in Majorca. There's a reason I ended up here, it reminds me all too well of Santa Barbara. I've always been a beach guy and I think that'll never change. Some prefer to be in big cities like London or NY but I will always be a west coast kid. I will always long for the ocean.
Last week brought about so many things - from the start of my new group's trading journey to dealing with market events and then to all the things in between. It has been a few years since I've taken this many students. Part of it is the fact that no one actually asked me to be their mentor back in CA. The new group has been fantastic. They are an enthusiastic bunch and we pretty much treat each other like familia. I did not expect that being a mentor to a few of these folks would entail that I got to play big brother too. I'm not the go to guy for matters of the heart and I truly think that I would never understand the mysteries of 'love'. However, it reminded me of reality that outside of trading, there is this thing called 'love'. Sometimes we get to engrossed with what we're trying to do, we forget about other aspects of our lives. It was a very busy week for the markets. I think that is even an understatement. We had multiple huge moves from forex to stocks. When you get so deep into these moves, it's so difficult to cater to the ones we care about. It reminded me of a chapter in my life where a past gf would complain when I'm holed up in my house for almost a week being emotionally unavailable because I was so busy trading European and Asian events. But that's just it - it's a nice reminder to know that we do have to live outside of trading. The entire work-life balance concept still is important as a trader. What makes it difficult to balance this is the fact that you're no longer relegated to an office that specifies a 9-5pm routine. You're constantly inundated with market events that if you somehow don't have a good handle on when to stop and take a break - you will for sure lose sight of what's important. I am perfectly okay with not catching ALL the moves last week. It's important to always have a quota and as long as that quota was met, I think everything else is irrelevant. It will always be a constant struggle to balance all of our individual priorities in life. Some of us who have families will have an even bigger challenge. It's all about prioritizing. The markets will also need to be managed and scheduled appropriately. The markets, like anything else, needs to be put in its proper place and be well understood. I suppose the advice I gave to my broken-hearted 25-yr old Spanish student applies to this balancing issue: Realize what went wrong. Reflect on all the things that happened and know the mistakes made. Once those have been assessed, get better at analyzing your next opportunity. You need to understand what you're getting into the next time, and really assess your priorities very well before embarking on a new adventure. Emotion is a fickle thing. If left unchecked, it can leave you at a much worse situation than before you went into your endeavors. At the heart of it all, know yourself really well to know what you are capable of. Few of us ever master the art of self-control. Many seek it. Many want to achieve it but it's harder to get to a level of restraint because after all, we are impulsive and emotional beings. However, as in relationships or in business, get to know really well what you're getting into and if it's worth fighting for, fight for it. Have a good trading week ahead folks! -Gavin
1 Comment
kim silva
11/8/2015 06:23:28 pm
Gavin,
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Multiple AuthorsTraders from Equity Sense will be writing on this blog on positions and other market-related things. Archives
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