Monday, March 31, 2008

Taking The Next Step In My Career

The reason for my lack of posting the last two weeks was because of some of the steps I was taking to further my career goals.

I had been working at a particular prop trading company for the past 3 and a half years and at the beginning of March, I switched to a new company (for those who forget what I do, check out this post).

Why did I decide to make the switch?

Well, for the past year or so, I felt that the environment and the people around me just seem to slowly decay and by the beginning of 2008, I felt as though everything around me was literally falling apart.

Management kept changing, traders kept coming and leaving, the people around me grew cold and distant, and branch managers who had recently opened up new branches started closing them down.

Not only that, but the trading system that we used at that company started having frequent failures - some days it would be down for 30 minutes, other times it would be down for the whole day.

On New Year's Day 2008, I told myself that this year would be the best year I've ever had. But with all these constant failures and management changes at the company, I felt as though the Universe was telling me something.

After several days in a row of downtime, I decided that it was time to move on and to begin searching for a new company to trade for.

On literally the same day I decided to change companies, I happen to meet up with someone who had a friend working at another similar company. The timing couldn't have been better! I made contact with this new company, met with their management and they accepted me with open arms.

I really couldn't believe how quickly everything fell into place! Everything was setup for me to make the move within 2 days of making my decision to change companies! It was almost as if the Universe wanted me to make this move!

I have been at this new company since the beginning of March and I can tell you it's been such a world of difference for the better!

Things have been very smooth since I've started there. Not only is my compensation doubled, but the system is very stable and the overall fees are lower. On top of that, this company allows people to do remote trading - in other words, trade from home!

The setup is the same as my previous company in that I don't have to use my own money to trade - instead I trade the company's money, so there's no risk to me. Even now, I still feel excited and happy that I made the switch - it almost feels as though I am reborn again.

Everything now seems like it's in place and hopefully it will be business as usual again at this site. Once I do begin trading from home, I will have a lot more extra time that I can dedicate to this site.

It's just one step closer to living the life of my dreams...



Related Posts
Give Yourself A Motivational Boost
East Meets West - Feng Shui And The Law Of Attraction
Imagine If We All Lived In A Perfect World
Why Do I Write?
My Dream Car - Mercedes SLR McLaren
Is Money And Wealth All I'm Interested In?

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Sunday, March 30, 2008

List Of Lists - 10th Edition

Here is the list of articles that were posted this past week from around the blog-o-sphere that contain lists.

Again, this post is a weekly post that will highlight some of the great posts from my fellow bloggers and gives me an opportunity to give some link love to some great sites out there.

I'll try to concentrate on posts that conform to the theme of this site.

Here is the 10th edition of the "List Of Lists":


PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT


HEALTH



TRAVEL




MONEY/FINANCES/BUSINESS


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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Luxury & Tech Picture Links: 4th Edition

Here are some luxury & technology items that caught my eye this past week.

Since pictures are more eye-catching, I've posted up picture links. Click on whatever catches YOUR eye for the story related to it.

It is my hope that this post inspires and motivates you to live the life of your dreams and that it reminds you anything is possible and you have the ability to acquire anything it is you desire - it's all up to you.

This week's edition's central theme appears to be cars....here are this week's links:


The 2009 Pontiac Solstice Coupe - the sleek new model for next year (click on picture for more photos)(photo: Pontiac)



Philip's Ambisound Soundbar - these are some really flat speakers (click on picture for more)



Saleen S5S Raptor - this 650 horsepower supercar will set you back about $185,000 (click on picture for more)



Alfa Romeo 8C Spider - only 500 of these beasts will be built (click on picture for more)



MacBook Touch Concept - nothings better than having a transparent touch keyboard for the MacBook (click on picture for more)



TANCHER Transformer - this handy device can be transformed into one of many devices (click on picture for more)



The Most Expensive Estate In Georgia - this gorgeous 47,000 square-foot home can be yours for $45 million (click on picture for more photos and more)


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Saturday, March 22, 2008

List Of Lists - 9th Edition

Here is the list of articles that were posted this past week from around the blog-o-sphere that contain lists.

Again, this post is a weekly post that will highlight some of the great posts from my fellow bloggers and gives me an opportunity to give some link love to some great sites out there.

I'll try to concentrate on posts that conform to the theme of this site.

Here is this week's edition:

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT


HEALTH


TRAVEL


MONEY/FINANCES/BUSINESS


WRITING

If you enjoyed this article, please support this site by either Digging, Stumbling, or adding it to your favorite bookmarking sites using the button below - it would be greatly appreciated!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Luxury & Tech Picture Links - 3rd Edition

Here are some luxury & technology items that caught my eye this past week.

Since pictures are more eye-catching, I've posted up picture links. Click on whatever catches YOUR eye for the story related to it.

It is my hope that this post inspires and motivates you to live the life of your dreams and that it reminds you anything is possible and you have the ability to acquire anything it is you desire - it's all up to you.

Here is this the 3rd edition of "Luxury & Tech Picture Links":



The Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe - unfortunately they're all sold out....(click on picture for more)



7,000 Square-Foot Beverly Hills Home - price tag: $15 million (click on picture for more)



Microsoft's LucidTouch - a see-through touch screen...well, sort of (click on picture for more)



Canvas - a computer for the artist/designer with a cool interface (click on picture for more)




CRN GiVi Yacht - luxury living on the high seas (click on picture for more)



Huge Potomac Estate - 25,000 square-foot, 10 bedrooms, 11 baths, 2.7 acres = $12.5 million (click on picture for more pictures)



Piaget Polo Tourbillon Relatif Paris Watch - reminders of Paris can be found all over this watch (click on picture for more)


BenQ v2400W - this 24-inch LCD widescreen is the world's thinnest (click on picture for more)



Perrier-Jouet - the world's most expensive champagne at 50,000 Euros (about $79,000) (click on picture for more)



Samsung Mini-Camera - the world's slimmest 8-megapixel cameraphone module (click on picture for more)




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Saturday, March 15, 2008

List Of Lists - 8th Edition

Here is the list of articles that were posted this past week from around the blog-o-sphere that contain lists.

Again, this post is a weekly post that will highlight some of the great posts from my fellow bloggers and gives me an opportunity to give some link love to some great sites out there.


I'll try to concentrate on posts that conform to the theme of this site.


Travel seems to be the theme as there were lots of travel lists this week....here they are:



PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT


HEALTH


TRAVEL


MONEY/FINANCES/BUSINESS


WRITING

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Thursday, March 13, 2008

Imagine If We All Lived In A Perfect World

Imagine, for a minute, if we all lived in a perfect world. Imagine if we got the house we wanted, the car we wanted and that money would just come into our possession whenever we wanted it.

Also imagine that we all got to do whatever it was we love to do for a living and that it would pay vast sums of money without any of us having to try really hard to get it.

Imagine we could also go anywhere we wanted and visit all the places of the world with ease.

Wouldn't that kind of world be great to live in?

Or would it.....

Think real hard about it for a minute. If we somehow got everything we ever wanted and everything happens to fall into place for you, what kind of life would that be?

In a perfect world, there would be no challenge, no sense of accomplishment and there would be no such thing as success. In a perfect world there would be no motivation to do anything, no sense of purpose in life, and there would be no sense of fun.

In short, life would be boring.

It's kind of like playing your favorite game where you always win or playing your favorite video game with cheat mode on. Sure it may be fun at first, but then after a while you'll start getting bored. Now imagine having to play this game every day. You'd get bored to tears after playing this game for several years (if not weeks, days or even hours).

In a perfect world, you'd run out of places to go, get tired of the cars you drive and you'll start struggling to think of things to do.

This is probably the reason why so many successful entrepreneurs who sell their businesses for many millions of dollars eventually find themselves back to work again.

These entrepreneurs started their businesses so that they could live in a perfect world and for a time, they enjoyed it, but in the end, they got bored and eventually went back to work (even though they didn't have to).

I am reminded of the movie The Matrix when Neo meets "The Architect". In the movie, "The Architect" tells Neo that the 1st version of the Matrix was created to be a perfect world - that it would give the people whatever they wanted. However, that first version of the Matrix ended in chaos as the people within it just couldn't accept it, which is something I believe would happen in the real world.

In the real world, our lives are full of obstacles, but we should consider these obstacles as things that make are lives more interesting. Consider these obstacles as challenges and it's totally up to you to overcome them. You will find that these challenges will often help you find your life's purpose.

If you enjoyed this article, please support this site by either Digging, Stumbling, or adding it to your favorite bookmarking sites using the button below - it would be greatly appreciated!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Luxury & Tech Picture Links - 2nd Edition

Here are some luxury & technology items that caught my eye this past week.

Since pictures are more eye-catching, I've posted up picture links. Click on whatever catches YOUR eye for the story related to it.

It is my hope that this post inspires and motivates you to live the life of your dreams and that it reminds you anything is possible and you have the ability to acquire anything it is you desire - it's all up to you.

Here is this week's edition:



ReQuest Freedom wireless remote control - everything at your fingertips




Rotating Sphere Lounger - relax in your garden in this out-of-this-world pod




2009 Jaguar XKR-S - just announced, this is the fastest Jaguar ever




Zenith El Primo Zero G - this beast of a watch can be yours for just under $500,000




Schimmel Pegasus Grand Piano - a very new-age piano




Fleur De Lys - this 35,000+ square-foot monster is for sale for $125 million




Lake Tahoe Estate - can't afford the Fleur De Lys? How about this 38,000+ square-foot mansion for $100 million




MANSORY Renovatio - my dream car gets a makeover




IceLink Floating Diamonds Watch - there's ice all over this thing



Related Posts:
Luxury & Tech Picture Links - 1st Edition
What $15 Million Can Buy In Toronto
Goldarth's Review Of My Dream Car

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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Why Do I Write?

You may be wondering what a day trader would be doing writing a self improvement blog.

You might be asking yourself "Shouldn't he be studying the markets?".

What I would say is that this site is a way for me to escape the markets - to take a step back and take a little breather. I find that if all I did was study charts and study my trading for too long, I end up missing the important details and that my trading will ultimately suffer.

As you probably already know, being a trader is very stressful and very emotional. Most of the time it doesn't really get to me, but there are some days when I feel as though I don't want to look at another stock chart for the rest of the day.

You can say that this site is a way for me to bring balance to my life - to broaden my horizons and to genuinely help myself by exploring topics that I might otherwise not even think about. So far, I have found it very helpful in chronicling some of my difficulties and some of the things I did to remedy them.

For me, writing for this site is an attempt to discover myself and to take a closer look to see what needs improving. When I think about topics to write about, I cannot help but look at myself to see where my problem areas are and to see where my strengths are.

I also find that trading is a very solitary activity and many people (including myself) feel as though it doesn't really benefit society in general. This site is a way for me to feel somewhat useful - it allows me to give back to society and allows the reader to see the life lessons I've learned from trading.

I used to run another blog. It was a trading related blog and though it had some success, I found that it was more of a burden than anything else.

Why?

Well because at the end of every trading day, I would do a recap and there was no way around it. I couldn't plan or pre-write my posts and many times I felt as though I had to relive through all those bad trading days (which sometimes made it even more difficult).

Above all, my old trading blog just felt like work - whether I liked it or not.

What about this site?

What's great about this site is that there is no pressing need to have to publish a post every single day. When I feel like writing, I can punch out several posts in one sitting (which is of great help).

At any one time, I already have several posts all written and ready to go - all I would have to do is press the "Publish Post" button. Whenever I have ideas for a post, I just write out the title and several bullet points for me to write out at a later time.

I may have as many as 10 posts ready for publishing and 30 ideas for a post waiting to be written.

The setup I have for this site works much better for me.

If, on any particular day I don't feel like writing, than that's just fine - I have several other posts ready to go so there's no real pressure to write.

If, on any particular day I just have a writing bug, than that's just fine too - I just sit down and write up as many posts as I feel like.

So those are the reasons why I write and why I maintain this site.

It is my hope that by sharing the things I've gone through, that others can learn from my experiences.

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Monday, March 10, 2008

Give Yourself A Motivational Boost

Everybody has goals or dreams of some sort.

Some of us have big goals or dreams while others like to take the small steps approach.

Whatever path you feel works for you, there may come a time when you don't feel as motivated as you should be in achieving these goals.

It could be that you goal appears too difficult to do or that it's taking an unusually long time to achieve it. It could be that someone said something to you to deflate your dreams or it could be that you feel there isn't room in your busy schedule to dedicate the time to it.

Whatever the case may be, losing one's motivation is usually a precursor towards an unfulfilled dream or a goal that gets lost in the shuffle.

Having goals and dreams are good and all, but you will find that you'll have a tendency to lose the motivation to achieve these goals if they do nothing other than to benefit you.

The one thing that has helped me greatly in moving forward and actively trying to reach my goals is to think of how the fulfillment of my goals will be of benefit to others.

If the end result can benefit my family and those around me, I will have a sense of accomplishment because I will know that my actions have improved their lives and not just my own.

When I think of my goals and dreams this way, I can't help but get a motivational boost and I suddenly feel as though I have more energy and stamina to tackle my objectives and goals.

As an example, if it's that promotion you are after, don't think of it as something that will improve your life or your status. Think of how the added responsibility will be rewarded and how these rewards can be of benefit to your family and their financial security.

If you adopt this mentality, you will find that your dreams and goals will die hard. Knowing that the actions you taking are on behalf of others, you will find that you will work 100% harder.

If you enjoyed this article, please support this site by either Digging, Stumbling, or adding it to your favorite bookmarking sites using the button below - it would be greatly appreciated!

Saturday, March 8, 2008

List Of Lists - 7th Edition

Here is the list of articles that were posted this past week from around the blog-o-sphere that contain lists.

This post is a weekly post that will highlight some of the great posts from my fellow bloggers and gives me an opportunity to give some link love to some great sites out there.

I'll try to concentrate on posts that conform to the theme of this site.



More great stuff was posted this week....here they are:


PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT


HEALTH


TRAVEL


MONEY/FINANCES/BUSINESS


WRITING


Related Posts:
List Of Lists - 6th Edition
List Of Lists - 5th Edition
List Of Lists - 4th Edition
List Of Lists - 3rd Edition
List Of Lists - 2nd Edition

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Friday, March 7, 2008

Taking Action

I think that in today's society, the one thing that most people don't do enough of is to take action or seize opportunities that present themselves.

I believe that so many people out there could be living better lives if all they did was to take advantage of the moment and acted on it as soon as possible.

Whatever the opportunity may be, it could be the one thing that could change your life forever and it could be the universe's cue that your moment is now.

Opportunities comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes. It could be someone you meet or it could be that you happen to be at the right place and the right time. It could be a phone call to give or receive or it could be that poster or advertisement that catches your eye.

Think about it. How many success stories out there have all hinged on the fact that they saw an opportunity, acted on it, and became a huge success. Almost every single biographical success story can be traced back to that one action they took...that one life altering action.

No matter how small an opportunity you come across, just remember that it can be a life altering one for you.

I am reminded of the article I wrote about Frank O'dea, the co-founder of Second Cup, one of Canada's largest coffee chains . When Frank was a homeless drunk, panhandling on the streets of Toronto, he happen to see an ad in the newspaper. For whatever reason, he decided to call the number on the ad. He didn't have to, but he felt it was an opportunity for him. From that point on, his life would never be the same and he is now a multi-millionaire running several businesses.

Most of us see opportunities and we don't take action. Instead we think it seems like a good opportunity, but then decide to dwell upon it. What usually ends up happening is that days go by, then weeks go by. It then either slips our mind or you figure that the opportunity has passed and it's too late to act on it.

Success gurus and Law of Attraction pundits always preach that success isn't going to happen all on it's own. Success is about taking action or inspired action, regardless of how small those action may be.

Just remember, the universe likes speed - if you see an opportunity, seize it because it may be the one action that sparks your success.

If you enjoyed this article, please support this site by either Digging, Stumbling, or adding it to your favorite bookmarking sites using the button below - it would be greatly appreciated!

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Luxury & Tech Picture Links - 1st Edition

Here are some luxury & technology items that caught my eye this past week.

Since pictures are more eye-catching, I've posted up picture links. Click on whatever catches YOUR eye for the story related to it.

It is my hope that this post inspires and motivates you to live the life of your dreams and that it reminds you anything is possible and you have the ability to acquire anything it is you desire - it's all up to you.

Here is this the first edition of "Luxury & Tech Picture Links":

A tour of a $15 million, 10,000 square-foot Tennessee estate (click on pic for more)



Nokia's nanotech flexible technology all-in-one device (click on pic for more)



Maserati's 2009 Grand Turismo S - Ferrari designed V8 (photo: Maserati) (click on pic for more)



Lato Boutique Hotel in Greece - a getaway in paradise (photo: Goldarths) (click on pic for more)



HP's iPaq Travel Companion 310 - the perfect gadget for the avid traveler (click on pic for more)



LG's 10,000:1 ratio movie monitor - watching movies has never been better (click on pic for more)



The Ripple Faucet - sleek, high-tech, modern design for your bathroom (photo: smeece85) (click on pic for more)



Samsung's SyncMaster 820DXn - 82-inches of viewing pleasure (photo: Business Wire) (click on pic for more)



Zenith's Defy Extreme Stealth watch - a cool looking watch for just under $20,000 (click on pic for more)



Giugiaro's concept car - a speedy, but odd looking vehicle (click on pic for more)



The curved iMac - your workstation or office will never be the same (click on pic for more)



Donya's DN-SlimG4 - a thin, sleek MacBook Air-like device (click on pic for more)



Krug's 1995 Clos d'Ambonnay Champagne - yours for $3,500 a bottle (click on pic for more)



Rotating Home Theatre - a multi-function room with a rotating floor (click on pic for more)



Lamborghini's Gallardo LP560-4 - the pictures are finally revealed (click on pic for more)


Related Posts:
Laser TV - The Next Big Thing?
Goldarth's Review Of My Dream Car
What $15 Million Can Buy In Toronto
In Search For Perfection? Here's The Perfect Watch!
My Dream Car - Mercedes SLR McLaren

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