Mostly gaming and trading

Posted on May 9, 2008
Tags: Personal development |

I haven’t written much lately, mainly because not much is going on, in any area. Since returning from vacation I’ve been in a bit of a holiday mood. My Google Reader had 800 unread posts yesterday which I’m only starting to catch up on. I still trade daily of course, but haven’t been doing much work on the various research projects. It’s probably partly because I feel a little more secure and confident given how changes to my trading introduced earlier this year are holding up, including in the current environment. It’s also part of a cycle I suspect of pressing hard - resting - pressing hard. I can’t work or do anything in the same pace and intensity all year-around, regardless of the pace.

One thing I’ve been keeping myself “busy” with is a new game, called Assassin’s Creed. One of the nicest action games set in the Crusades era. Amazing graphics and gameplay. Gaming is one of the best mental recuperation tools that work for me, when I’m gaming I’m both disconnected from everything else while still honing my trading skills - that’s right. Gaming helps trading. Not just the eye-hand coordination and reflexes but also the dynamics. One of the main features in games is the ‘lives’, you get to play till you ‘die’ and you have several ‘lives’ to go through. Just like striking it out on the day with getting stopped out. Another similarity is the pressing and withdrawing, in the Assassin’s Creed and other games I spent lots of time on Company of Heroes, Battlefield 2 etc. you gotta press your advantage and you gotta know when to pull and retreat and conserve your troops or health. Company of Heroes is especially good in instilling that, approaching an area head-on and insisting on fighting it out will get you killed and losing the game most of the time. Approaching it strategically, assessing the situation as it unfolds and deciding on whether to cut your losses and return another time, stay your course, or add troops is the single most important factor that will win the day. Choosing which type of troops, vehicles or weapons will get the job done is also an important part. You have to stay flexible, adapt and adjust to your opponents actions and not get locked in and you’ll do fine. Just like in trading.