Capitalogix

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

I just saw the new Star Wars with my family.

It's a bit crazy to think about what percentage of my life occurred since the original came out

I can still remember watching the first one. 

 

BTW, I'm not 60 yet ... but, I am pushing double nickels.

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

Lighter Links:

• LeBron James: Keeping a Billion-dollar Body in Shape. (CNN)
• Success Strategies from a Self-made Billionaire. (TonyRobbins)
• When Robots Dream: AI Systems May Learn Better and Faster If They Can Sleep'. (Siliconangle)
• Machine Ethics and Artificial Moral Agents. (KDNuggets)
• The CIA is Telling Us How the Agency Uses Americans' Data. (Mashable)

Trading Links:

• FCC Revokes the Net Neutrality Rules. (NordVPN)
• Janet Yellen Calls Bitcoin 'Highly Speculative'. (CNN)
• Driverless Cars Will Change Auto Insurance. Here's How Insurers Can Adapt. (HBR)
• This Investor Says Millennials are 'Starting to Buy Homes in a Big Way'. (CNBC)
• Google Leads in the Race to Dominate Artificial Intelligence. (Economist)

 

Before and After The Snap: What Can Business Learn From Football?

The NFL has been in the news a lot recently (mostly for controversy ... kneeling during Anthems,  companies blaming poor sales on the decline in NFL TV ratings, concussions, and Jerry Jones trying to fire the Commissioner).

 

Nonetheless, I am impressed by the product NFL teams put on the field week-after-week and year-after-year.

 

Recently, I took some friends to The Star, which is the Cowboys' new world headquarters and training facility  (and, as a side note, cost more to build than the Cowboys' stadium).

 

 

 

This post seems like it is about football ... but it is really a playbook of things we can do in business.

What Can Business Learn From Football Teams?

If you get a chance to watch an NFL practice ... I highly recommend it.   It is an awesome experience and opportunity for a businessperson. 

 

Each time I've watched a practice session I've come away impressed by the amount of preparation, effort, and skill displayed.

 

The Cowboys' coach is Jason Garrett.  He is detail-oriented and intellectual.  His pedigree ... he is a Princeton graduate who played quarterback in the NFL.

 

 

During practice, there's a scheduled agenda. Practice is broken into chunks, and each chunk has a designed purpose and a desired intensity.  There's a rhythm, even to the breaks.

Every minute was scripted.  You could tell there was a long-term plan ... but, there was also a focus on the short-term details (many details).

They alternate between individual and group drills.  Moreover, the drills run fast ... but for shorter time periods than you'd guess.  It is bang-bang-bang – never longer than a millennial's attention span.  And they move from drill to drill – working not just on plays, but the skillsets as well (where are you looking, which foot do you plant, how do you best use your hands, etc.).

They use advanced technology (including advanced player monitoring, bio-metric tracking, and medical recovery devices ... but also things like robotic tackling dummies and virtual reality headsets). 

They don't just film games, they film the practices ... and each individual drill.  Coaches and players get a cut of the film on their tablet as soon as they leave.  It is a process of constant feedback, constant improvement, or constant renewal.

How you do one thing is how you do everything.  So, they try to do everything right. 

Pro football is one thing. College football is another. But, even in high school, the coaches have a game plan. There are team practices and individual drills. They have a depth chart, which lists the first, second, and third choice to fill certain roles.

The focus is not just internal, on the team.  They focus on the competition as well.  Before a game, the coaches prepare a game plan and have the team watch tape of their opponent in order to understand the tendencies and mentally prepare for what's going to happen.

During the game, changes in personnel groups and schemes keep competitors on their toes and allow the team to identify coverages and predict plays. Coaches from different hierarchies work in tandem to respond faster to new problems. 

After the game, the film is reviewed in detail. Each person gets a grade on each play, and the coaches make notes for each person about what they did well and what they could do better.

Think about it ... everyone knows what game they are playing ... and for the most part, everybody understands the rules, and how to keep score (and even where they are in the standings).

Imagine how easy that would be to do in business.  Imagine how much better things could be if you did those things.

Challenge accepted.

 

NFL - Boom or Bust

Are you ready for some Football?

This chart may explain why my foreign friends prefer a different form of "football" ... It shows how many Super Bowl Championships each region has.

 

 

The regular season is about to start, and the buzz is building ... but, not all of it is good. 

Violence ... drugs ... concussions ... There has been a lot of bad press surrounding the NFL lately.

The Cowboys, alone, have somewhere between  4 to 7 players (depending on appeals) subject to miss games due to league suspensions for misconduct.  

 

The Teflon League:  NFL Revenues and Viewership Are Up.

 

Currently, the NFL is the 11th most important private company in the USA according to Fortune, and has the highest revenue of any sports league worldwide. 

via howmuch

While critics contend that something needs to be done about the various issues surrounding the NFL, it's hard to conclude that those issues affect viewership.  The NFL currently dominates attendance per game, viewership, and revenue.

In an experience economy, the NFL puts out an extraordinary product.

Long term may prove to be a different story, however.  Each year there are less high-school football players and more competition. 

I guess we'll see.

Regardless ... "How About Them Cowboys!"

 

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.

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - August 20th, 2017

Change is the only constant.

 

  

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

 

Lighter Links:

• AI Beats the World's Best Gamers after Just Two Weeks of Learning. (NewAtlas)
• Russia-linked Hackers Targeted Hotel Guests across Europe: Security Firm. (Reuters)
• One Year after Rio: What's Left behind after the Flame Goes Out. (ESPN)
• Humans and Robots are on the Cusp of a Sexual Intimacy We May Never Reverse. (Quartz)
• Elon Musk Just Shared His 4-Step Plan for Mars - Colonists Should Be "Prepared to Die". (ScienceAlert)

 

Trading Links:

• Ray Dalio Urges Investors to Hedge Against Possible North Korea War. (FN)
• There Has Never, Ever, Been this Many Trades Betting on VIX. (ZH)
• Amazon Could Start Selling Event Tickets in the U.S. (TechCrunch)
• South Korea Introduces World's First Robot Tax. (ZeroHedge)
• The Number of Cash Payments Dipped 11 Per Cent Last Year - But It's Still the Most Used Payment Method. (CityAM)

Rubik's Cubes ... More than just a game.

One of my unique abilities is pattern matching.

Even if I'm not an expert in a field, based on context and patterns, I quickly see the big picture – and recognize the bottlenecks and leverage points that impact transformative results.

Perhaps that's why Rubik's Cubes fascinate me. 

A scrambled cube presents an insurmountable challenge to newbies.  It almost seems that there are infinite possibilities ... and most lead towards chaos and failure. In reality, a Rubik's cube is pretty easy to solve if you understand a few simple algorithms (and match the positions of a couple key blocks in relation to the decisions you need to make next). 

As more people learn to solve standard cubes, the game evolves.  There is new generation of "Cubers" that attempt to find new creative situations to add difficulty, solve it faster than the next person, or try crazy variations of the cube that barely resembles the original. 

 

If you're trying to learn how to solve a basic cube, here's a great resource. 

After you've learned the basic patterns, and solved a few puzzles,  you can up the ante.

Here are some examples of bigger cubes with more variables and different shapes.

 

via hananujiya

Ultimately, it is that base pattern recognition and simple solving skills (applied in the right order) that sets the stage.

It doesn't matter where you start.  As long as you continue to make progress, the result is inevitable.

Rich People Spend Their Time Differently: An Income Distribution in Americans' Pastimes

When it comes to American pastimes, many people focus on the big 3 sports: Football, Basketball, and Baseball. Nevertheless, there are a lot of different ways people spend their time.  It is interesting to see what they watch - and what they actually play. 

Nevertheless, there are a lot of different ways people spend their time.  It is interesting to see what they watch - and what they actually play. 

There is also a big difference based on income distribution.   Here is an infographic.

 

via VisualCapitalist

Apparently, rich people like golfing,  yoga and racquet sports ... while poorer people disproportionately liked relaxing, writing for personal interest, and having hobbies.

It is also kind of interesting to see when people tend to do certain activities.   Here is a chart showing the peak time for various sports and activities.

via Henrik Lindberg

You could build a business around data like that.

Interesting?

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

Motivation For Your Week

It's easy to think that motivation is for athletes, or for "them" ... and not you.

The reality is that motivation is a key aspect of everyone's day!  

Here's a video I found this week that is worth a listen.

 

 by Basquiat Picasso via YouTube

The transcript is here.

You can rely on external factors to bring you motivation, or you can make it an internal habit. 

The same way people love change – but resist being changed ... Being driven (by yourself) feels better than when someone tries to push you or drive you.

Sure, it's easy to be unmotivated and wonder why things never get done. 

Often, I'll see employees, or friends, get something 80 - 90% done and then move on to some new exciting prospect. 

They get distracted by "shiny" and use it as an excuse to ignore the hard part (that last 10%), and whine that nothing's ever finished. 

As long you are making progress (and refuse to give up) you are guaranteed to meet and exceed your goals.

So, stop whining and start grinding! It's time to get to the getting!

Here Are Some Links for Your Weekend Reading - May 21, 2017

The "He Said – She Said" loop is funny ... But it is still giving me a headache.

 

 

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

 

Lighter Links:

• Here are the Ridiculous Things Celebrities Demand Backstage. (BusinessInsider)
• Garry Kasparov on AI, Chess, and the Future of Creativity. (Medium)
• The Ultimate Guide to Personal Productivity Methods. (Todoist)
• Hundreds of Privacy-invading Apps are Using Ultrasonic Sounds to Track You. (ZDNet)
• Why Would Aliens Even Bother with Earth? (LitHub)

  

Trading Links:

• Elon Musk Says Robots Will Help Tesla Catch up to Apple in Value. (Fortune)
• Retailers Look past Apps to the next Frontier of Digital Shopping: Chatbots. (WashPost)
• Vending Machine-like Skyscraper Concept Plans to 3D Print Custom Homes. (Mashable)
• Indonesian Islamist Leader Says Ethnic Chinese Wealth is next Target. (Reuters)
• Financial Technology is Proving Less of a Battleground Than Feared. (Economist)