Pages

Wednesday, 13 January 2010

Back In Madrid!


2010 here we go! Happy New Year to all (a bit belated agreed) and apologies for being a little quiet on the blog and the emails recently. I promise to get back to everyone who has sent me an email over the last few weeks after this blog post. So expect a reply by the end of the day :)

First I'd like to thank everyone for showing an interest in my courses, or simply enjoying the read of the blog. I'm not going anywhere in a hurry and plan to help as many budding traders as I can in years to come. I have a few ideas lined up this year which I'll announce nearer the time and as the interest has come mainly from the UK, I have made rough plans to move back to London come the start of 2011 :)

Little Break

I've taken some much needed time off from the world of trading, and trust me from late Dec - late Jan is the best time of year to take it. Regardless if we have crazy amounts of snow on the ground or not. It's been a great time catching up with friends and family but time for me to get back to it. As a full-time trader you have to look at the year like a marathon, and be willing to fight through the tricky times to be rewarded when the good times come around again. From late Dec - end of Feb Is without a doubt the trickiest time of year to trade, and it's mainly down to the weather. I wished to see snow when I arrived back in the UK and wow I was not
disappointed! I saw it everyday I was in the country haha! Crazy indeed and it's completely thrown the markets out of sync. I'm gonna be careful what I wish for in future!

You have to know when to immerse yourself in the markets though, and know when to take a step back from them. Everyone who has traded even a few weeks on the markets, quickly realise it grabs u by the balls and leaves you wanting more. A kind of addictive game of wits and money where your in a constant battle with yourself to improve. But having time off is a massive part of being a consistent winner on Betfair. Go and jump off a bridge with a bungee strapped to your ankles, go and swim with dolphins or simply sit in front of the box watching back to back films sipping on 10 cups of tea. It really doesn't matter what you do, just enjoy it! But don't beat yourself up about taking some time off, you will thank yourself when your trading 7-8 hours a day in summer when there's an overload of opportunities. Ask yourself this....would you prefer a job where you don't have a choice if you work or not?


All About The Money?

When you first start learning the black art of trading, it's all about money money money. But ask yourself what you want the money for? My goal is to make money for a life of freedom and enjoyment. So really the true benefit trading has given me is being able to experience life as I choose to live it, and long let this continue. We are trained from a young age to search for a safe, secure job offering a nice pay-check at the end of the month. Without realising you are numbing your thought process in looking for freedom, flexibility, and new sources of wealth. As human beings we are scared of failure and this forces us to search for security. So in turn we live below our means and live by the pay-check we have worked so hard for. But working crazy hours a day we don't have the time or energy to enjoy it. As consumers, when we get a pay rise all we do is spend more and wonder why we never have any spare money...and the viscous circle continues. This is called the rat race, and over 95% of the population is in this system. But instead of thinking 'oh this is just how it is, think how can I get out of this'. Trading is 1 alternative and there are many more, so I hope you see where I'm trying to go with this. It's not the search of more and more money that is important, it's how the money you make changes your life for the better.

This time of year is a time to remind yourself why you are a trader, or why you want to become one. As its the drive inside you that makes us successful, not how long it takes or how many losses you occur in the process. You have to find your own drive that will keep you going and ultimately make u prosper in this competitive game of trading. For me it was the drive for freedom that led to my success, and it's still the drive that keeps me going today. Having the flexibility to do what I want, when I want to do it is so important to me. I hope all that are learning can look beyond the potential monetary gains, and seek another drive within them that will make 2010 a fulfilling and enjoyable year.


Bring It On!


After a long break away from the markets I'm itching to get back to it all. Gonna have a look at 2moro's card and fingers crossed I'll see some kind of action to get my teeth into. I plan to take it very slow and probably will drop my stakes down a bit. I'll be very patient and won't expect much from the remaining week. See how it goes though and I'll do an update after Saturday's card. Now's the perfect time to expand your trading into other ideas and plans for the coming year. Mine will be trying out the tennis which should be fun, although I need to get Sky sorted out before I tackle the tennis madness :)


Other Blogs

In the world of blogging, we are always going to have people come and go, and we've lost some good ones unfortunately. But I've noticed so many new blogs appear in the last few months which is great to see! I think there's a mini buzz around trading in general even though the weather has taken some joy out of things of late. So if anyone wants to be added to my blog links simply send me a request and I'll happily add anyone. A lot of mine on my list haven't updated in a while so please feel free to get in touch.

Please check back over the last few comments made on earlier posts. I've responded to them all. Many thanks!

Stay positive, its the calm before the storm :)

10 comments:

  1. Hi Jack,

    Another very insightful post there. This is my first time trading in Dec/Jan and it's reassuring to know that it's the trickiest time of the year to trade - I thought it was just me!

    Mets

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Jack! Good to know from you again!

    I have actually suspended my "horse trading" (at the moment all the losses I make can't be called that, haha!), because I really have a lack of knowledge and lots of the crazy drives produced in the markets appear unexpectedly to me. Decided to stop, reevaluate, and learn. Also I focused on other things to trade on.

    Jack, if you're gonna put effort into tennis and want some good info just drop a line ;).

    Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, and by the way... I suppose part of this comes from reading Kiyosaki's books... Very insightful and recommended reads.

    See you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. yo Jack if your looking at tennis try tradesharks blog, he's doning live skype training and I'm sure he'd do an exchange of skype for some good horse racing training!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi there, interesting blog which i will follow with interest.
    I am new to trading but have started a blog which perhaps you could add to your links.
    http://tradingaway.wordpress.com/
    Have added you already.

    Cheers
    Thirsty

    ReplyDelete
  6. za1jcas, zuikiscool at gmail.com22 January 2010 at 12:07

    Hey Jack,

    I like these ideas about financial independence you get while trading, so I am here to learn trading on the same purpose too. I love your blog. I watched your one hour video, good stuff to learn from! Thanks for creating it! If you don't mind may I ask you a queastion about bookie's odd prices that you are watching while trading? Can I get some coments what useful information about price movements you get from it? I was trying to watch them too, and noticed that most of the time bookies are chasing bf prices, or maybe I interpretated them wrong? Thank you again for being around and letting to learn from you.

    Best wishes,
    za1jcas

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Jack,

    Thanks for the nice words mate.

    Great blog by the way -I've read it before many times. Was close to booking onto your course last year as I still can't trade the horse!

    Link exchanged.

    All the best,

    Mark

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your comments about trading being about the freedom to choose is exactly right for me. I want to be able to say F you to all the bs thats out there, choose what I do and when I do it. I dont even need huge amounts of money to be comfortable. I guess some might see this as a selfish attitude but its who I am.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mets - Just try and keep your head and just plod along in the next few months till Cheltz. The more solid markets are only round the corner.

    Cobo - Thanks for the offer, can you kindly send me an email as I can't find your contact details. Yes some of the post was inspired by Kiyosaki's books. Great read and it changed my whole mind set when I read Rich Dad/Poor Dad when I was 17. Awesome!

    Jocky - Cheers for the advice on tennis, I'll have a look but I think will wait a lil bit before trying out tennis due to my lack of quick pics.

    Thirsty - Sure link added!

    Za1jcas - No probs thanks for the kind words! The bookies prices I use as just another factor to how the whole picture of a market works. Betfair is now the leading market and often you will see the bookies following the price of Betfair. Not always true of course but a large majority of the time. The biggest use I use it for is to give me a mark where the odds aren't going to fly though the bookies point. Treat the bookies prices with caution though!

    Neil - I like your style mate, it's this attitude will help you succeed on Betfair. It's a battle out there and if you can find a drive like that it will help you ride past the tricky times. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Jack,

    First of all, congratulations about blog! Not only i'm learning a lot but it's inspiring too.
    I very new to trading, i just started a fews day ago, but i started for the same the goal as you. I don't like the idea of a fixed salary and 8 hours a day of work, I think you deserve to earn what you worked for and trading is an excellent opportuninty for this. Hope my goal drive me trought the hard process of learning. I'm also counting on your blog!

    Carlos

    ReplyDelete

Real Time Web Analytics