Really, really enjoy coffee. I could give up a lot of my other vices, but good coffee at the right time makes life so much more enjoyable. I can’t think of how much work I have been able to push myself through only because of a caffeine buzz.
This past week I overindulged on internet time to say the least. My girlfriend was out of town and I decided to binge watch high-stakes poker, sports, and do coding/data science work towards my crypto research. My eyeballs felt like I was using an eyedropper filled with habanero as I laid on the couch alternating hours between these, yet nothing else could hold my attention.
Since my childhood I’ve always been interested in statistics. I used to check the news papers and look at high school/college/professional box scores, caring more about shooting percentages than the outcome of a game itself. It’s always been a bit of a time killer/brain relaxer for me, and it didn’t strike me as possibly abnormal until this weekend when I wasted an hour scrolling through all of the stats of the weekend football games for college/NFL. It got me thinking about some of my natural strengths when it comes to work.
My crypto research and trading algorithm work has been bordering on obsessive for the past month. I test, retest, and come up with new ideas working over every single possible scenario, and then realize there are ones I never even thought of. Part of me wishes I could just leave it be and compartmentalize it to a few hours a day, but then I would never have made the progress that I have. Reflecting on this I can see why I’ve been successful in trading/poker/fantasy sports. I can be sloppy to start and make some trades that are a bit like gambling, but my mind has a perfectionist attitude and refuses to stop fixing things until it works. I wish this applied to healthy-eating/meditating/writing, but most other things I have to really push myself to do consistently.
The really hard part about trading for me is that it’s a secret profession. For me there is as much art in trading as math/programming/stats, but unlike writing/music you only make money as long as you’re undiscovered. My trading has been getting complex and sophisticated, and it would be boring/hard to understand for anyone who is not involved in quantitative trading, but there is a part of me that wishes I could share it. I’ve set a few personal goals to motivate me (some things I can do with extra money for other people) as I tend to get lazy when things feel like they’re going easy.
I always read articles about following your passion (if you think you know what that is) vs doing something that you are valuable at. I think it’s a very individual thing, and probably changes over the course of your life. For me right now as much as the trading can be a grind sometimes, it really feels good. It’s never boring, but it is hard and draining work mentally. Some days (when I’m making money) I am able to step back and feel so appreciative that I’m able to do this and not sit in a cubicle. For anyone going through these thoughts (including most likely future me) you’re probably going to be most satisfied doing something that people want to pay you for, as long as you don’t dislike it. I’ve started/invested in a few businesses, and the ones that made money always seemed to be much more enjoyable long-term.
Even though I was alternating my time between trading research and degenerate poker/sports viewing, I did happen to start a really fun book. “John Dies in the End” has been an amazing way to end the night for me. I don’t remember how I came across this book, but it’s really funny and a fun book in general. I am unfortunately the king of reading 15% of a book, outwardly proclaiming my love for it, and then 35% through tossing it to the side. This book is also pretty polarizing with the writing style. It kind of reads like a Judd Apatow movie, so I could see a lot of people starting it and being disturbed by my taste.
One thing I did finish was a series of graphic novels: “Kill or be Killed”. This one isn’t a comedy shockingly, but I loved it. I enjoy vigilante stories and questioning morality. Really fun series with good twists and writing.
Another big game changer for the men is Saxx Quest and Saxx Kinetic underwear. I bought a bunch of cheap name-brand underwear recently, and a few days later I questioned why I’m wearing polyester material everyday. Living in Puerto Rico and working out regularly gets hot… and not only do these keep things in line/keep me from overheating, they have cool designs. I reluctantly paid the $33 a pair for 5, and a week after using them happily ordered another 5 pairs.
That’s it for this week. I think I’m going to do a short trip somewhere soon, tbd. I should have realized that me saying I’m going to stay put until Christmas was unlikely to happen. At the very least there are some really cool glamping spots here in Puerto Rico that I’m looking forward to checking out.
For my weekly pic I thought I would feature my street cat that I feed here in Puerto Rico. There are cats everywhere in the city, and most of them are scared of people, but he always comes and rubs up against me. He even responds to his Finnish name that my gf gave him, phonetically sounding like Sue-tees. Something about chimney or coal, but either way he seems to not mind it.
Andrew Manser 