Stay Busy, Stay Working, Stay Hungry

Dynamic Hedge blogs about correlation, relative value and quantitative analysis at http://www.dynamichedge.com

Well, I’m just trying to stay above water, you know?
Stay busy, stay working
Puff told me like, the key to this joint, the key to stay on top of things
Is to treat everything like it’s your first project, know what I’m saying?
Like it’s your first day, like when he was an intern
Like, that’s how you got to treat things like, just stay hungry

— Notorious B.I.G. My 1st Song

The market is trying to knock you down.  Keep you off your grind.  Distract you from your purpose.  Make you lose faith.  It’s not just the market — it’s the whole world.  Stay focused.

Remember a time before you ever had any money to trade with?  Remember a time when no one believed in you?  Back when all of this was just a dream?  Do you remember how bad you wanted to be a trader?  Do you remember how bad you wanted to step into the arena?  How badly you wanted to compete?  I would have given anything to be where I am today.  Even with all the ups and downs, 20-year-old me would give anything to be where 30-year old me is today.  Anything.

Think of all the people who have given up just before their goals would have been realized because their vision was clouded by events they could not control.  Think about the millions of people who will never have an opportunity to realize their dreams.  Don’t let anything keep you off your grind.  Life doesn’t always work out just the way you want.  So what.  Most people don’t realize the trials you must endure before you’ve earned the right to quit.

Crazy thing is, this market is going to produce some amazing opportunities.  What stocks do you wish you bought the last time the world was ending?

I’m glad to be turning the page on this week.  It was one of the hardest I can remember.  I trade a market neutral strategy because of events like this, and this week was still brutal for me.  Relationships are stretched and completely irrational.  This is the game we play.  I’ll get through this and come out the other side a little faster, a little smarter — and a little bit harder to kill.  I’ll wake up at 5am on Monday and feel blessed by the opportunity.

Treat everyday like that kid who never made a trade.  Or as Biggie says, “Like it’s your first day, like you were an intern.”

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