Monday, February 16, 2009

Sore Eyeball Disease & Roy Longstreet

I was taken down this weekend by a very odd virus that ferociously attacked my eyeballs. It sounds funny now, but it was very painful. This isn't a very medical way of looking at things, but it was almost as if my brain was on overdrive, and the heat from it was basically cooking my eyeballs like two eggs, which felt as if they were about to burst, and ooze from their sockets down my cheeks.

So as I was laying in bed with a fever and sore eyeballs, I decided to pick up a book that "Trader P" purchased for me called "Viewpoints of a Commodity Trader" by Roy W. Longstreet. Now, I know some of you closer readers out there are like, "Duh, why read if your eyes hurt" but I couldn't sleep, and I needed a diversion, so stop being a dick.

The chapters are short, and I am going to type out an excerpt from the chapter entitled "A Time To Rest" for you here, because it, in conjunction with my sore eyeballs, told me it's time to take my foot off the gas a bit. Here goes:

"A Time To Rest" by Roy W. Longstreet

I have known very successful traders who, afraid to take a vacation for fear something important would happen, eventually lost their "touch." One such individual is reported to have lost more than $4,000,000 over the past five years.

When faced with such a situation, it's time to ask yourself two fundamental questions. First, is this the only opportunity that will ever come my way? Second, if this is such a great opportunity, am I mentally, physically, and financially prepared to take full advantage of it?

If the answer to either is, No, it's time to stop and rest. It's time to let the soul catch up with the body, to give yourself the chance to think a little clearer, to plan a little better.


Going forward, I'll be taking more days off. I'm pushing too hard from a mentally exhausted state, and it's driving me backwards.

Acknowledging this has made me feel better already.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

gotta be some sweet nj ocean funk i'd imagine f'n up ur peepers. maybe trump dumped all the stored up shit at his ac casino's before he declares bankruptcy.
-pete

Anonymous said...

I think the first question should be "is it a good opportunity?" saying "only opportunity ever" will almost always be answered with a no.

Anonymous said...

Took me many years to get to a point were i felt comfortable taking a considerable amount of time off from trading. In this business, its an art form to be able to relax. Lets be honest, not many people know how it feels to earn/lose six figures in a single day. Its very stressful to say the least but its also VERY addictive, at least for me. Unless you have done it yourself with your OWN money and not someone else's you will not understand what it takes day in/day out. I remember a quote from years back "As long as you have a ticket, there will always be another bus" JMO. - Jaw

Unknown said...

yo dino

how the hell are you mentally exhausted from about 2 to 3 good hours of trading a day?

trader e

Dinosaur Trader said...

I think maybe 15% of my mental energy is going to trading right now... the rest is devoted to my many neuroses.

-DT

Jd said...

Who else is logging in as "JD" besides me???

Anonymous said...

Sorry my first time commenting here since DT finally doesn't make you log in to comment. Didn't realize it was taken I'll use something else in the future.