Capitalogix

Tough Times Call For Hope And Inspiration

The Red Ribbon is a fun video worth watching.  It is a reminder that Hope, Inspiration and Passion are important catalysts to moving forward, regardless of what you do for a living.

I hope you like it.

Here is the direct link on YouTube.

Is Genius Something You Have or Something You Are?

Some of my greatest accomplishments seemed almost effortless when they happened.

Some people call it "Flow" while others call it "Being-In-The-Zone". You've probably experienced the same thing.

Genius may be related to that. As I think of it, some of my best ideas seemingly came to me fully-formed.

For example, in 2003 I had a breakthrough discovery resulting in an algorithm now used in a series of trading systems. Leading up to that point, I had spent quite a long time thinking about every little aspect in detail; and the progress had come slowly and painfully. Then, whoosh, it's like the whole thing came all at once.  I say (and I believe) that it came to me, through me, and from me.  But I still don't know how or why it happened.  It is almost like I was television or radio receiver that somehow got turned into a channel broadcasting something worthwhile.

Since then, I've tried to re-create the environment, my work process, anything to bring back that feeling of inspiration, innovation and progress.  And I have had moments like that from time-to-time.

The Ted Talk Video on Genius:

This video is about the process I described above.  It is about "Genius" and whether it's something you "Have" or something you "Are".

While this video does not provide answers, hopefully it will stimulate a thought process and provoke some ideas and discussions that you find helpful and enjoyable. I know it did for me.

Here is the direct link.

Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love, muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses -- and shares the idea that, instead of the rare person "being" a genius, all of us "have" a genius.

Also, here's a link to a website that lists the daily routines and work process that various famous people have used. I found some interesting things there.

Best Practices For These Uncertain Times

I spent part of the week in Chicago, and had had the privilege of spending some quality time discussing the current situation with a group of experienced traders and industry professionals. A couple of things struck me immediately.

• First, even these pros were rattled by the state of the economy and the prospect of recovery taking longer than expected or wanted.
  
  
• Second, even for those in the room who had well-crafted theories about why they were expecting an intermediate-term rally, it didn't take much discussion for them to admit the same sense of uncertainty that others have expressed.
  
  
• Finally, and most importantly, once the obligatory fear, uncertainty, and doubt talk was on the table - the conversation quickly turned to the best ways to make money in this environment.

Are Times Uncertain - Or Is It You?

I also went to a Strategic Coach quarterly planning session this week. Not surprisingly, the topic was primarily about best practices during uncertain times. Dan Sullivan recounted that many of his clients expected a tough year, but still expected a recovery to follow that. Then, he posed these questions.

• How long will this turmoil last? 
• What if the recovery doesn't come as quickly or as fully as you hope or expect?
• What if things stay like this?
• Who do I have to become for this to be okay?

Good questions, and it made me think:

Mastery isn't measured by the number of bad things you eliminate ...
but by the number of times you eliminate calling them bad.

Many of our biggest innovations or course corrections took place after a seemingly disastrous occurrence or bad thing happened. That's why lots of psychologists and self-help gurus encourage people to focus on the hidden gift that many of these experiences provide.

Examining several instances from my past, I came up with this list of the seven steps I use to transform almost any situation.

Seven Best Practices for Uncertain Times.

1. Accept Reality: We are where we are. Focus on being complete with what happened before this; and think about this as a new beginning with an even bigger future.
2. Do Something Positive: Take action and build momentum and confidence. Big wins are great. Yet, in scary times, even small items are worth noting and building upon.
3. Take Care of Yourself: Increase your physical activity, meditation and massage. This is the time to eat and sleep well. Many studies show decision-making suffers when you're stressed. Taking care of yourself goes a long way to making a lot of other things better.
4. Communicate More: The natural tendency is to hide or to recuperate in private. Instead, be open and receptive to help and ideas from friends, partners, or wherever it comes from.
5. Creative Destruction: The old game and the old ways of thinking are over.  Shift energies to what is working.
6. Increase Your Options: It often takes a different level of thinking to solve a problem than the level of thinking that got you into the problem. So, be open to new opportunities and new possibilities.
7. Choose a Bigger Future: Instead of resigning yourself to playing small and doing with less, recognize that the clearing creates the space for something even better. Choose what you want, plan it and stick to your process.

They say everything happens for a reason. The secret is that you get to choose the reason, what it means to you, and what you're going to about it. Choose well, and someday you could look back on this time as one of the best things that ever happened to you.

Attitude

I got the following story in an e-mail, several times this year.  It has a nice message.  The thing that interested me, though, was that I got it in several different forms. 

Jerry is the hero in this version.  It was Mike in another.  Sometimes he got shot, and was allergic to bullets ... other times he fell off a tower and was allergic to gravity.  Sometimes it was a plain text mail, other times it was in a PowerPoint attachment.

Made to Stick:  Clearly it is a "sticky" story that people like to re-shape and re-tell.  So, with no further ado, here it is for you to read for yourself.

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone asked him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood.

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

"Yes it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."

I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business.

We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination.

The robbers panicked and shot him.

Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.

Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

It's Really About Resilience: 

Lots of articles stress that how we react to challenges can dramatically affect the outcome, influence our health and the quality and length of our lives.

A new branch of medicine – psychoneuroimmunology - studies the relationship between mental attitude and health. Physicians have found that a positive attitude can result in faster recovery from surgery and burns, more resistance to arthritis and cancer and improved immune function.

For example, Yale University researchers conducted a 23-year-long study which showed that those who had a positive attitude towards aging lived roughly seven and a half years longer than participants who were dreading reaching their twilight years.

In "The Survivor Personality," Al Siebert has some interesting insights into why some people are stronger and more skillful at handling life’s difficulties. Interestingly Dr. Siebert says that survivor qualities can be learned, but they can't be taught.

Are life's best survivors different from other people?  No; they survive, cope, and thrive better because they are better at using the inborn abilities possessed by all humans.

Will it be easy to think positively and look for the good when things are going bad? Not always; yet cost-benefit analysis indicates that the rewards are well worth the effort.  I have two choices: I could choose to focus on what makes me strong, or I could focus on what makes me weak. I choose to focus on what makes me strong.  I hope you do too.

Three Simple Questions To Help Make This Your Best Year Ever

We are preparing for our yearly audit. On one hand, this is a task that is hard to like. It reeks of administrivia; and it seems like the best that happens is that nothing happens.

On the other hand, this is a great opportunity for us to review aspects of our business that rarely get primary focus. It reminds me of putting together a business plan. The actual plan isn't nearly as important as the thought and effort that went into creating it.

So, as we start the new year, I challenge you to look at some aspects of your business or life that you know need a little bit more of your focus. To borrow from the Strategic Coach (which is one of my favorite sources), you can start by asking yourself three questions.

1. What do I want to do more of?
2. What do I want to do less of?
3. What do I want to start doing?

Be honest with yourself, and recognize that there's a difference between data-driven tactics, things that emotionally charge you, and the things you just know are true.

You have a clean slate and open field, realize you can fill it with anything. Choose wisely.

Being in One Conversation: A QuantumThink Example

I recently took a course called QuantumThink. It was interesting and different than many other courses I had taken.

It laid out a number of techniques and exercises that helped me distinguish when I was acting automatically (rather than consciously) and unnecessarily limiting my sense of opportunities, options, or even what was possible.  

Frankly, I was surprised by how many of my thoughts, beliefs, and decisions were the result of unconscious habits or predictable patterns of behavior.

An Example.  One exercise helped me recognize how fragile my focus had been. Imagine trying to listen to your favorite song. How long do you think you could truly do that without losing focus and having other thoughts intrude (without thinking about your to-do list or other songs that you like, or who you're going to meet with later in the day, etc.)?  For me, the answer was not that long.

More importantly, I recognized that when I'm not aware of my focus, it often wanders.  And I get distracted easily.  Soon I recognized that this happened to me while talking to my wife, while listening to a telephone call, even when ordering food at a restaurant. How can I lose focus on the waitress while I was ordering? Apparently, quite easily.

How About You?  When you're listening to someone talk to you, are you really listening to them - or are you checking e-mail, texting, browsing a website, watching TV, playing a game, or thinking about what you're going to say?  Be honest with yourself; how often are you fully present?  For me, the answer was not nearly enough.

Try listening to one song with your full attention and focus.  Now, imagine how different a conversation with someone important to you would be if you were consciously aware of your intent for them to experience being heard the whole time they were speaking to you. Maybe it is easier to imagine how different it would be for you if someone was fully present when you talked with them?

I suspect that this is an area where many people exhibit a similar weakness. I say that because discussing this with several friends and family members resulted in big changes in our interactions.

This was a small example, and there are lots more.  Even this single distinction can make a material change in your life, if you let it. So give it a try; and visit this website to learn more about QuantumThink.

Help Your Body to Calm Down - And Your Mind Will Follow

 

Trading is often stressful. Learning how to handle the emotional and physiological response patterns is an important step toward long-term success.

During market turmoil, sometimes I notice the seeds of fear, uncertainty, and doubt in my body. Rather than succumbing to this, I have developed a number of coping practices and techniques.

• The first is simply to follow our trading rules and trust in the process;
• The second is to rely on automation as much as possible;  and
  
• The third is to recognize that my body's cues are an important signal for me to take action.

One of the best ways of coping with stress, for me, is to exercise regularly.

Have you ever noticed how animals shake or tremble when they are traumatized? These physical activities may be nature's way of helping discharge stress hormones, purge excess energy and release muscle tension.

For humans, exercise is a pretty close analog to this. I know that I feel better after an hour of brisk activity to get my heart rate up, to sweat, and then to calm down. Somehow this tells my body that the agitation was expected; and now the relaxation is a good and appropriate response, too.

Another technique that works for me is to use music enhanced with tones to help me meditate or relax.  An example of this is the Centerpointe Holosync package.  Another set that I enjoy is Hemi-Sync music from the Monroe Institute.

When I get really stressed, though, my wife tells me that it's time for me to use my "light and sound machine." I think my using it helps her as much as me.

As the name implies, it combines visual and audio stimulation.   So, how does it work?  The short answer is that brain activity naturally falls in-sync with lights flashing at a certain frequencies. And you can encourage certain brain wave patterns by controlling the frequency, color and intensity of the pulses.  Supplementing this with a similar technique based on sound compounds the effect. 

Most of these devices include small LED lights mounted in a pair of eye glasses and headphones. The lights and sounds synchronized by a small control unit.  The mind machine that I use, called a Procyon, includes 50 unique, pre-programmed light and sound stimulation sequences within its internal memory, each designed with a specific goal in mind (for example, relaxation, concentration, accelerated learning, creativity, or rejuvenation). Procyon also has the ability to synchronize with audio material on a CD or MP3 - or with AudioStrobe programs.

Behind your closed eyelids you will see a kaleidoscope of color, layers of fractals and a variety of screensaver-like imagery. Once you get used to it, the experience is quite pleasant. 

It's pretty foo-foo; so I'm not going to pretend that this is 100% scientific and logical. Nonetheless, I believe that it is a lot more than a placebo.  Why? Because I have empirical evidence that it works.

Most importantly, I feel better after I do it. In addition, a biofeedback machine (which measures brain waves, pulse, galvanic skin response and other stress indicators) confirms that the light and sound machine works dramatically and quickly.

It works on almost everyone I've watched try it (and I've done this with CEOs, programmers, traders, staff members, and a bunch of others). However, it does not work on people who fight it.  And I am amazed at how many people fight it, initially.  After a few minutes, most simply let go and let the technology un-ruffle their feathers.

 The possibilities are great, and the technology is effective. However, the only way to truly appreciate the light sound experience is to try a mind machine for yourself.

Resilience

Watching the Olympics has been an uplifting reminder for me.  The sport of it is fun to watch.  Yet, the deeper story is even better.

For example, Michael Phelps was expected to break Mark Spitz's record in Athens four-years ago.  While he was dominating, it just didn't happen, then. 

Can you imagine setting world records, winning gold medals, and still feeling like you came up short?

Can you imagine how many times he replayed the missing hundredths of a second that separated him from his dream?
So how did he do it this time?

Somehow the great ones are resilient and durable in distressing situations.  They adapt and cope; and ultimately gain strength from adversity -- often converting it into a gift.  They find a way to transform what seemed like setbacks into the fuel they need to get to the next level.

Nietzsche said "that which does not kill me, makes me stronger."  And that statement applies to trading and funds management as well.   Trading often seems like it is not fair - and that can be very good for us. 

11 Foods You're Not Eating - But Should

The NYTimes had an interesting article about 11 foods that are good for you and easy to find, but that most people don't eat.  Here is the link and here is a link to a related article on the Men's Health site.

Cell Phone Popcorn Popper

Up till now, I've kept my cell phone in my front pants pocket.  After watching these videos I'm worried about fried eggs.  Pretty cool ... or hot ... depending on the perspective.

Here is the direct link.

Just in case one wasn't enough.

Here is the direct link.

So, what does Snopes say?