Capitalogix

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - September 17th, 2017

Hillary is now on a book tour for her new book "What Happened" ... I haven't read it, but Politifact has. 

 

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links:

• Hackers Have Already Started to Weaponize Artificial Intelligence. (Gizmodo)
• Your Future Sex Robot Could Be Hacked and Programmed to Murder You. (BGR)
• You Can Actually Be Allergic to Exercise. (Popular Science)
• Multivitamins a Waste of Money and Just Create 'Very Expensive Urine'. (TheGuardian)
• iPhone X Impressions: 'Striking' Display and 'Sensational-Looking' Design Make High Price Worth It. (MacRumors)

Trading Links:

• In China's Hinterlands, Workers Mine Bitcoin for a Digital Fortune. (New York Times)
• Janet Yellen Has Reached Breakfast-With-The-President's-Daughter Levels of Job Insecurity. (DealBreaker)
• Finance: How It Made Civilization Possible. (CFAInstitute)
• The Blockchain Will Do to Banks and Law Firms What the Internet Did to Media. (HBR)
• 16 Quotes from Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's Right-Hand Man. (BInsider)

Arousal States: Biofeedback and the Story You Tell Yourself [Part 3]

In the first part of this exercise series, I talked about mindset and action.

In Part 2, I talked about normalizing your habits and picking consistent, normalized metrics. This doesn't just work at the gym; it applies to life and business as well. 

Today, I want to explain how and why this helps. To do so, we will talk about controlling your arousal states. 

Watch the video, it is only 90 seconds.

 

 

Chemically, most arousal states are the same.  Meaning, the same hormones and neurotransmitters that make you feel fear also can make you feel excited.  They affect your heart rate, respiration, etc.  ... Though, the outside stimuli you experience likely determines how you interpret what is happening.  

In most situations, a heart rate of 170 beats per minute is an indicator of extreme danger (or an impending toe-tag).  If I felt my heart racing like that in a meeting, it might trigger a fight or flight instinct.  I prefer conscious and controlled responses.  So, I train myself to recognize what I can control and to respond accordingly.

One way I do that is by being mindful of heart rate zones during exercise.  

My goal is to get as close to 170 bpm as I can, then stay in that peak zone for as long as possible.

Here is a chart showing a Fitbit readout of a recent exercise session.

 

As you can see, every time I reach my limit ... I get my heart rate back down.  It becomes a conscious and controlled learned behavior.

It's a form of biofeedback; it's not only gotten me better at controlling what happens after my heartrate reaches 170 but at identifying when I'm close even without a monitor. 

Now, when my heart rate is at 170 bpm(regardless of the situation), I don't feel anxious ... I think about what I want to do. 

This is a very useful tool.

It's the same with trading ... Does a loss or error harsh your mellow – or is it a trigger to do what you are supposed to do.  

Getting used to normalized risk creates opportunity.  

When you are comfortable operating at a pace, or in an environment, that others find difficult – you have a profound advantage and edge.

Normalizing and Measuring Behavior - or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Pain

When your doctor tells you that you are fat, it is easy to discount (because you pay them to tell you that).  When your massage therapist tells you that you are getting fat, you've got to listen (because they're trying to be nice to get a better tip).

Well, for the past two months, I've been getting back into fitness.

I used to be a competitive athlete.  So, exercise was about gaining an edge and competing better.  In a sense, that is still true (just on a different field).   Now, I work out to stay healthy, fit, and vital while managing the challenges of running a company, navigating an overbooked calendar, and traveling every week (I flew about 140,000 miles last year – and have flown about  5 million miles on American).

In my last post on mindset and action, I talked about the habit of conditioning yourself to take the next best step.

This is about focusing on the right things so you can best measure progress.

 

 

Normalizing your habits and picking the right metrics isn't just a habit for the gym.  It's a habit you should pick up in life. If you don't set the right measuring stick you'll always be unhappy or underperform. 

Plan forward – but measure backward ... you have to make sure you're not so focused on the horizon that you don't track what you've accomplished. 

Normalizing the result makes this easier and better.

In running, for example, it is the time it takes me to finish one mile, while never going above 170 heart beats per minute.

Meanwhile, in trading, we do this by comparing different opportunities based on a constant risk level (for example, the expected return for the next day of $1M, assuming a 1% maximum drawdown).  It doesn't matter what market we trade, or how many trades the system makes ... we can make a fair comparison and get better insights about performance.

Hope that helps.

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - August 4th, 2017

A poorly thought-out plan, executed perfectly, is better than a perfectly designed plan that never gets executed. 

 

via Calvin and Hobbes 

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links:

• NFL in Talks with Jerry Jones, Yankees to Combine Event, Hospitality Business. (BR)
• How to Boost Your Mental Health with Nootropics. (PickTheBrain)
• Study Says It's the Cuddling, More Than the Sex, that Makes You Happy. (Flipboard)
• Fukushima Disaster Evacuees Told to Return to Abandoned Homes. (TheGuardian)
• Someone Asked Their Amazon Echo If It Was Connected to the CIA. the Response Was Not Reassuring. (SomeEcards)

Trading Links:

• The Secret Economic Lives of Animals. (Bloomberg)
• Bill Gates Invests in Veggie Burger that Bleeds' like Beef to Feed the Masses and Save the Planet. (GeekWire)
• Alan Greenspan: the Bubble is in Bonds, Not Stocks. (Apple)
• Why the Post Office Gives Amazon Special Delivery. (Wall Street Journal)
• U.S. Farmers, Who Once Fed the World, are Overtaken by New Powers. (Wall Street Journal)

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - July 28th, 2017

Talent is great,  but you can have a lot of success without it ...

 

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links:

• What is an Impact Filter? (StrategicCoach)
• Morning Routines and Strategies. (Tim)
• Why Some Smart People Make Foolish Decisions. (Digest)
• How Wellness' Became an Epidemic. (TheCut)
• Trump Reportedly Asked Legal Team about His Power to Pardon Aides, Family, Even Himself. (Slate)

Trading Links:

• Apple is Once Again the Most Profitable Company'. (iPhoneHacks)
• The Trump Administration Can't Stop China from Becoming an AI Superpower. (Wired)
• AI Could Revolutionize War as Much as Nukes. (Wired)
• Era of Biological Annihilation' is Underway, Scientists Warn. (New York Times)
• Gold and Silver are down 8% and 21% over the Trailing Year. Blame Bitcoin? (Fool)

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - July 16th, 2017

Science, Art, or "PooPoo De Toro"...

  

 

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links:

• Ray Kurzweil: There's a Blueprint for the Master Algorithm in Our Brains (Futurism)
• Brain-training Games Don't Really Train Brains, a New Study Suggests. (WashPost)
• Why Men Don't Live as Long as Women. (Nautilus)
• What a Hunter-Gatherer Diet Does to the Body in Just Three Days. (CNN)
• Is Philosophy Simply Harder Than Science? (TLS)

Trading Links:

• Return of the Day Traders. (Forbes)
• The Unexpected Economic Consequences of Video Games. (Vox)
• Why Elon Musk's Early Adopters Take Risks. (Forbes)
• Nvidia Heads 50 Companies that Will Change the World. (Alphr)
• This is the Future of Investing, and You Probably Can't Afford It. (BizInsider)

When Will You Die? A Look At Cause of Death in Different Demographics

As I get older, I've noticed how much more often my mental perception of myself, and the physical realities are incongruent. 

I remember routinely being the youngest guy in the room. Obviously, that isn't true anymore (unless I'm at Denny's at 4pm).

I remember running around the park (without stopping).  And I certainly remember enjoying working out with my son.

Things that used to be easy (or at least routine) now cause me stress.

But age affects everyone - and while my 24-year-old can still eat like a pig and lift heavily, those days are behind me.  

I recently shared an article on "Conditioning Yourself To Take The Next Best Step," and I talked about getting back in shape ... the mentality it takes, and the habits I carried with me from my days as an athlete

One of the hardest lessons for me to learn has been that I can't work out how I used to ... or I injure myself.

It is not too far a leap to go from that – to thinking about mortality. 

This interactive graphic, below, shows how people of different ages die.  Click the image to try it yourself.

 

via FlowingData

You can see what average mortality looks like (by plugging in "0" as your age) ... or plug in your current age, sex, and race to see what's most likely to kill you (based on you having survived to now). 

Unsurprisingly, congenital issues stop having high mortality around 10, and circulatory/respiratory issues become more prevalent as you get older. 

Sure, this is based on averages - but it's interesting to see how locale and income play a role in your life expectancy. 

According to a Harvard-run study, people live longer in more educated and affluent areas even if they're less well-off, and that's taking even after taking into account labor market, social connectedness, and other factors. 

As well, the richest Americans live approximately 10-15 years longer than the other end of the spectrum as seen below. 

via Harvard Gazette

Live Long and Prosper! ... Or is it prosper and live long?

Conditioning Yourself To Take The Best Next Step

Is How You Do Something ... How You Do Everything?

I think so.  To make the point, let me start with a brief story. 

I was at the gym and getting pretty close to the end of my workout.

Frankly, I was at a point where being done was way more attractive than the option of doing additional exercise.

Over time, I've developed many habits and beliefs that focus on finding best next step -or a way to do just a little bit more. So this time, I used reverse-counting to help me finish that workout strong.

I started with 10 push-ups. I know I can do 10 push-ups, even at the end of a hard workout. Without putting my knees down, I can rest in plank position for a moment or two ... then I do nine more push-ups. That has to be easier than 10, right? Then eight more ... seven ... six. You get the point.

Each set is a little bit harder than the one before; but mentally I'm prepared for it, and can convince myself that I'm so much closer to the goal.

So I get to three, and sweat is dripping off my nose, my arms are shaking, and my hips want to sway. Somehow knowing that there's only two more sets, then only one more, allows me to finish.

That story could have been about creating profitable trading systems, developing a new database, or recovering from a set-back.  It's about finding a way, regardless of external circumstances.

Finding a Way to Do Just a Little Bit More.

There are many times that it seems easier to do nothing, or to give up. That's just not my nature. It's not in my "nurture" either.

My father used to say that the secret to success was getting up. What he meant was that if someone knocked you down 10 times, then the secret to success was getting up 11 times. And if someone knocked you down another time, then the secret was to get up 12 times. There's a lot of truth in that.

I laugh when I think of all the little things I do that condition me to take the best next step. Here are a few examples of small things that help define that mindset.

• I never stop reading until I finish a chapter.
• Also, when I play a strategy game on my iPhone, I never stop until I win.
• And, when I play a strategy game that I'm good at, I never stop until I achieve a certain score. 

It doesn't matter if I'm frustrated or tired.  I find a way.  Each of these things, in its own small way, helps condition me to know that I can do anything I commit to do.  Ultimately, what that means is that regardless of what happens, my outcome depends most on what I choose to do.

Sometimes these habits seem silly, quirky, or even a little bit OCD to me. Yet, they serve me.

Many benefits come from knowing that the game's not over until you say it is ... or until you win.

Moreover, it's comforting to know that there's always a best next step, or at least a different perspective that will create new opportunities and possibilities.

I tend to take that perspective in business as well. We focus on the progress we're making, and what that makes possible, rather than how far we are from the ultimate goal. Why? Because as we continue to make progress, the things we shoot for are bigger and farther away. Focusing there would always show a shortfall. Obstacles and set-backs become the raw material for new growth, ideas and strategies.  The trick is getting back up, isn't it?

Sometimes the best advice is simple. Nike got it right in their ad ... Just Do It.

A Better Way to Exercise - Whole Body Vibration Technology

Do you remember seeing a video of one of those old "exercise machines" that vibrated a belt around somebody's middle? While that might have been a fad, we now know that was not exercising.

Strangely, there is now something similar that is gaining in popularity and actually seems to work quite well. It's called the Power Plate.

This machine uses something called whole body vibration, a technology developed by Russia to use in its space program to combat the affects of zero gravity. Later, they used this technology to help train athletes; and you've seen variations of this in training methods like plyometrics.

Here is a picture of the Power Plate my5.

They claim that 15 minutes on this machine is the equivalent of about an hour at the gym. So how does it work?  Well, as long as you understand that you have to exert some effort, the Power Plate works much better than I would've guessed.

At its simplest level, the machine vibrates 40 times per second. The movements happen in three different planes: front-to-back, side-to-side, and up-and-down. The movements are small enough, and happen so quickly, that they are rarely visible to the naked eye. Nonetheless, your body certainly feels them.

The Power Plate is a little bit larger than your typical doctor's scale. You stand on its platform while performing various movements or stretches. For example, imagine doing a deep knee bend and holding that position when your thighs are parallel to the ground (basically a half squat). As you hold this position, normally, your thigh muscles would get a decent isometric exercise - and you can probably imagine them burning a little. Now imagine what would happen if, as you are performing that exercise, the platform vibrated 40 times per second. Think how many more muscles you would engage. Think how much better this would be as a core stability exercise.

The Power Plate is designed to support a wide range of exercises for all of your main muscle groups - and comes with various accessories, like straps and mats. I found that many of the exercises I enjoy most are movements that my wife says are similar to yoga positions. I try not to let that discourage me from doing them.

The machine gets used every day. My wife and son like it too.  It is exercise, and it does take work.  With that said, it has had a noticeable effect on my strength, flexibility and my ability to do traditional workouts at the gym.

You can find out more about this at the manufacturer's website. 

Here are some links about the machine and exercises.

• Info about Power Plate for the home.
• Here are Power Plate video training sessions showing 34 exercises.
• Here are more exercises.
• Here is a stretching video.
• Here is a YouTube search for Power Plate.  And, finally,
• Here are some articles on the science behind the technology

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - May 27th, 2017

There is a place to go with deep wishes  ...

 

 

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links:

• What the Dying Teach the Living. (LongNow)
• Why Close Encounters with Animals Soothe Us. (New York Times)
• Will We Ever Elect an AI as President? (Wired)
• 'SNL' Releases McCarthy's 'Spicey' Outtakes. (CNN)
• The Dark Art of How (And When) to Buy an Airline Ticket. (NYMag)

Trading Links:

• The Quants Run Wall Street Now. (Wall Street Journal)
• The MMC Ventures AI Investment Framework: 17 Success Factors For The Age Of AI. (Medium)
• The Real Reason Saudis Rolled out the Reddest of Red Carpets. (Bergen)
• SoftBank and Saudis Launch Largest Tech Investment Fund Ever, $93 Billion in Committed Capital. (CNBC)