I will take your advice re newspapers and other such news, restricting myself to the entertainment pages and reviews only. I’ve actually been thinking about doing this for a while and have recently wished for a regular subscription to a newspaper/magazine from 50+ years ago, as I feel this would be more useful for insights into daily life and the bigger picture. I am going to the gym and listening to my ipod already, and this helps to no end. The weather seems to be turning away from winter so I’ll be reconnecting with nature more often, even if this involves small things like relaxing in the garden or going for short walks. I feel this is important in maintaining a healthy mindset.

It’s very true that the inexpensive lifestyle enables me to coast along without feeling discontent. However, I will indeed be travelling to around IndoChina in March and despite the strong pound, this big expense item will blow my account through the point of ruin and I will stop trading. Because I have reduced my trading activities already, I know I cannot build a suitable buffer over the coming month, but I am ready to step back. Three years is a long time. In one sense, I view stepping back as a training period for an eventual return to trading, with activities in life acting as testing pads for discipline, risk management etc.

Happy New Year to you as well buddy and thanks for dropping by.

I suggest you ‘unplug’ – plant some bulbs, turn off the computer, avoid newspapers for a while, play some music. build a fence, clean a shed. I did this with a good long trip to Africa and realized how ‘over-intellectualized’ my life/modern life was and it put things back into perspective. Aren’t there walks around the coast of England you might take, or crew on someone’s ship to the Caribbean, or an overland trip to India and SE Asia.

While you are clearly a good writer, I would doubt that is the best use of your time just now.

In some odd way the inexpensive lifestyle you have is likely helping you continue some not-so-smart habits but we all have confidence that you will sort things out.

Happy New Year and Good Luck.

as far as all of wanting to write a book, that is probably true…however, u r talented enough to do it…i’ll take a signed copy, and even pay for it

Andrew – Seykota’s ‘everyone gets what they want’ line always come back to haunt me on the downs. The blog is indeed a great learning tool, a way to talk to oneself and to others…its just a matter of listening (remembering or going back and re-reading).

John – I have indeed thought about writing a book many a time (don’t we all!). Perhaps I need to suffer a massive wipe-out and enter the equivalent of a modern debtor’s prison, where I am given nothing but a pen, pad and a few weeks of isolation. On second thoughts, perhaps I should try and pursue this on the ‘outside’ before such drastic measures! And thank you for the kind words: ‘one momentary lapse in judgement doesn’t define us’..it is important to keep this in mind.

Oh, one great fictional book is ‘Bombardiers’ by Po Bronson. Absolutely brilliant.

Michael – Thanks for sharing an amazing story. I can’t believe you didn’t break any bones! We are lucky in two senses:
* We both had lucky near misses and survived physically unscathed.
* These lessons live on in our memories and so will affect our future decision making when it comes to risk.

Prospectus – You have told me what to do. Its good to hear from someone who realises there limitations and stops trading before crashing and burning. Very rare. It is true that personal trust is broken but I kind of rationalise this by thinking that such breaks happen quite often (cheating on new year’s resolutions being one example). Trained in economics, I often assume we live in a logical, rational world, but trading teaches me that this is not the case, and that humans are full of weaknesses and foibles. I guess that’s the upside of trading…that we can take lessons from our experiences and apply them to life, just as lessons from life apply to trading. Myself, I have cut back on trading, but it is only the first step; I plan to put serious constraints on my trading activity as the year progresses.

This episode should be a warning to you (and everyone else) that even with a good trading plan and discipline, we are all human and can get sucked into a neurochemically-induced paralysis. Always have a healthy respect for the market, and always fear your own biology! The trader is the weakest link, sometimes, when it comes to trading.

I wish I could tell you what to do now. After doing something like this, there’s a feeling that you have broken your personal trust forever. That no matter what you do from now on, your discipline is always tainted. As with lost virginity, your word to yourself is now gone forever. Maybe it’s just me. But if not, I hope you find an answer, and if you do, let me know what it is!

You story of the near car crash reminds me of the near-death experience that I had when I was 19. I was underneath my Dad’s truck trying to hook up a tow chain to the chassis since my car was half in the ditch. The truck began rolling forward while I was lying under it. I just waited, assuming that my Dad would stop the truck and was just moving a few inches closer. A moment later I realized that it wasn’t going to stop…saw my father alongside the truck trying to futility hold it back with his hands…and a Ford Bronco’s back tire rolled over my chest, crushing the air out of me. I blacked out for what felt like minutes. I opened my eyes seconds later and my father was beside himself…I just told him that I should see a Doctor to make sure I didn’t have broken bones.

I’m sure you guys have seen stunt men have cars run over their chests using ramps. I did it without a ramp but the truck was moving at exactly the right speed, I guess. I didn’t break a bone…just knocked the wind out of me.

I’ll never forget it, though. Never.