Procrastination is the enemy of success
Last year I had an idea, I added it to the list. For a lot of people that’s where the experiment ends, diet’s always start tomorrow etc.
But for me when I get a bright idea, no matter how crazy, I make a note of it and follow up. I tend to work on a few at any one time as most stay as crazy ideas, don’t work , I learn nothing or realise my thought process was wrong. But a few show promise and I tweak, refine and try to understand and explain what I am looking at in the results. My rule of thumb is that if I can explain what’s going on, I can back that up with some money.
All my best ideas and strategies come from nothing, just a thought or idea while I’m belting around on my bike or sitting feeding the fish or something. Nothing would stop anybody else from finding out half the things I have about the market, but what stops most people is the same thing that halts them in their tracks when betting or trading, the fear of loss or the fear of being wrong. A lot of people focus so hard on trying to avoid they negatives, so that becomes all that they can see. People become trapped in a number of ways. Often they fear putting in the effort needed to achieve a result and still failing, so the best choice is often to avoid the situation completely. People also procrastinate because they are perfectionists. People get paralysed by worrying that whatever we do won’t be perfect, so they avoid hitting what are seen as impossible targets.
The simple fact is that good and bad things happen in equal proportion. You just need to deal with the bad stuff as it happens, not look for it. Good things happen by chance alone too! If you can free yourself from worry about things that you have no control over, you will start to see the good stuff as well. That’s what I have learnt over the years. I used to procrastinate, but learnt to take sensible risks and flourished; It was a very liberating experience for me. My attitude now is that I will try something and if it fails I just shrug if off and try again, and again, and again. For me, there is always a way forward.
One of the reasons automation and the spreadsheet functions exist in Bet Angel is because it you can experiment in the market at low risk automatically while doing something else, such as your main trading strategy. At the end of the day you can collate and file the data. Once or week or so visit the data and learn from it. Like I said, sometimes you learn nothing, but every now and again you learn something new and then can start refining and fiddling with your original idea to see what happens.
Last year I kicked off two studies, both independent of each other but both showed some interesting things. As the year has progressed I realised I am actually looking at the same but from a different angle. So by re-hashing the data I have confirmed what each one is saying and that actually ties in with some other stuff I have done. On seeing it I immediately back tested it and it confirmed what I thought. Please note the back testing, AFTER, the discovery. Now I just need to put it to good use. Or I could qualify it to death and do nothing I suppose 🙂
So there you go, no matter how crazy your idea is give it a go, on practice mode or minimum stakes and see what happens. Often the results can be very surprising. The fact I can discover something new after thirteen years in the market is testament to ensuring you don’t procrastinate any longer!
Category: Trading strategies
