Gee, Think.

This is a call to personal trainers out there on the interweb.  Who are you?  How did you become a personal trainer?  Why did you choose that path?  What led you to it?  Looking back at it now, would you choose personal training again?

Over the past several months I have become increasingly interested in physical health and wellness.  I feel naturally drawn to learning more about these subjects.  I feel this naturally attraction to it. I can’t completely explain why.  It sparks my interest and curiosity.  I like the idea of learning how to be more healthy.  Wellness is a state that I am happy to enjoy most of the time, and I would love to know how to increase the likelihood of staying well.  I’ve been making small gradual changes to my lifestyle recently.  Some of these changes include alterations to my diet.  On a daily basis I include more fruit by drinking a smoothie of bananas with berries, soy milk, flax seed, and wheat germs.  Sometimes I include or substitute peaches or melons too.  I’ve also started to eat more soy products, more fish, more vegetables, and less red meat.  I cut down on caffiene as well.  I used to drink several cups of coffee each day.  Now I may have one, but usually I stick to green tea.  This morning I actually had two shots of homemade espresso, but I regard that as a once in a while treat that I enjoy.  There was a time where espresso was the norm.

Since making these dietary changes, I feel much better.  I think my digestion as a whole has improved.  I have more energy and vitality.  I’ve also been exercising more and more through my training with Yee’s Hung Ga Gung Fu association.  There’s no doubt that gung fu has also contributed to my health.  There are also meditative practices that go along with gung fu practice.  Some of these fit into a category called “Hei Gong” in Cantonese.  I have seen greater mental clarity, less stress, and more even emotional shifts since undertaking these practices.

So to sum up, I’ve been making these changes in my own life.  I have seen the results and I’m excited about them.  I feel much more alive and well.  I’d like to devote more time to understanding health and well being, mental, phsycial, and spiritual.  My inituition tells me that the personal training occupation could allow me more time to do this.  So personal trainers, I’m reaching out to you.  If you’re reading this post, please send me some information on the path you’ve taken.  Thank you.

Yesterday was the last day of Chinese New Year celebrations with Yee’s Hung Ga. This was my first year at the near year celebrations with the association. What an experience it was. We spent four days running around the New York chinatown boroughs of Brooklyn, Flushing, and Manhattan between this last weekend and the one before that.

For those that aren’t familiar with the tradition, the Chinese calendar is based on the moon rather than the sun. This is why Chinese New Year is also called Lunar New Year, because it is the start of a new year in the calendar which runs according to the moon. In the Gung Fu tradition, the Lion and Dragon will move throughout the neighborhood chasing away evil spirits and bringing good luck. Each animal has a distinct musical rhythm associated with it. The music is played by a team composed of a large drum (roughly 30 inches in diameter) at least one set of cymbals, and a gong. When the Lion or Dragon is on the street, the music is very loud. It must sound powerful and strong to accurately capture the spirit of the moment. For the team playing the music and protraying the animal this means that a high level of enery is essential. This what livens the spirits of the people who meet the animals.

Yesterday we marched through Manhattan Chinatown 100 strong. We had four teams, two lions and two dragons, all moving together down the streets with banners at the head. Our Lions were hoisted 15 feet into the air again and again atop a long red pole. When there was enough space, the hoisted Lion would be surronded by double dragons swirling and undulating backand forth. It really was a spectable to behold.

I felt proud to be a part of such a group of energetic and strong individuals who could come together to spread positive energy to so many people.

So I have taken it upon myself to study Mindfulness.  This is the teaching of the Buddha.  In a time where I feel that my life has become too hectic I feel that mental training is in order.  So far I am in the information gathering and beginning application stage.  I’ve read a book and a bit more on the topic so this is still very early for me yet.  My goal is to apply these simple techniques to my everyday life in order to make better use of my time by being more effective.  I would rather work 8 hours efficiently than 10 hours in a disorganized manner.  This is my effort to improve my professional skills, but also my attentiveness to all aspects of my life.

A funny anecdote:

One day last week, while reading “The Heart of Buddhist Meditation”   I left my umbrella on the PATH train.  Whoops.  I guess I could really learn a thing or two about it!  However I was reading Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness  and in the introduction the author describes an incident where one of his students was reading his first book “Mindfulness in Plain English” while crossing the street, and was subsequently hit by a car!!  At least my little lesson in mindfulness was not one inducing misery!

I look forward to understanding more about the concepts of Bare Attention and Clear Understanding.  I plan to put into practice Mindfulness of Breathing as often as I can.

I have started a new physical training discipline. It is a martial arts tradition called Hung Ga. The teaching lineage includes famed gung fu master Wong Fei Hung, and is descended from the Shaolin (Seiu Lum) temple of Southern China. I have only been training in this form for approximately 3.5 weeks. 25 days or so. Already I have seen great results. The school I’ve joined is based on the traditions and discipline of the old style. The class is formal, challenging, serious, and entertaining. It is similar to yoga in that the body gains a lot of strength without the use of weights. I continue to be amazed at what can be gained from holding a single stance or posture. Yoga first showed this to me and know I am experiencing it again in another form.

This is the start of a long career. I sincerely hope that I will be able to train with these people for a long time to come. I learn so much with each class, I can hardly wait to practice it on my own.

Triumphantly, I’ve returned!!

I’ve recently been challenged with the opportunity to see just how far I can take my dedication to my profession. The past couple months were a trial in persistance, faith, and relentless self-affirmation. I met long hours as sunless mornings and late nights. I saw what it is like to become completely absorbed in a project work schedule. There were weeks when I saw my fiance only when she was either sleeping or driving me to the train station. I missed engagements with friends and family. This was a challenge for my own endurance, and also for our resiliency together. I personally felt the costs of such a schedule, and can now say without question how far I am willing to go and under which circumstances. Part of the cost to me from the process was time with these people. After paying those costs, I’ve realized how much I enjoy that time. I appreciate time with friends and family on an even deeper level now.

I learned the meaning of expectations and deadlines. I felt great about meeting deadlines, and felt the excrutiating anxiety of missing them. I put all of my energy into my work, even through the weekends, and there was still more to do. These were challenges that I had not previously met. I feel excellent about the effort I put forth, and that’s a feeling that I could not have from any lesser collection of demands.

The work that I do is very different from the work of any of the men from previous generations in my family, and yet we can still talk to each other about our seperate experiences as similiar tests of “what you’re made of”. I put forth the best effort I can because I hope to be able to hold myself up to their example of work ethic.
This experience was challenging, but something I see as a positive chapter in my life. It was a time when I was able to say that no matter how tired I feel, no matter what kind of pressure I’m feeling, I’m just going to keep going on because I believe that by going on, we’ll make it. We did make it. We got to the other side, and my team was able to contribute to the good of the whole through our individual self sacrifices. Knowing this is the best reward I could have for the effort I put forward.

That can be the key to stressful situations. If they are apart of your
work, then it is necessary. I asked a friend how his most recent
assignment was going, and that’s what he said, “I’m getting used to
it.” I think that’s where the calm of maturity comes in. When you are
either young or inexperienced, the pressure is more extreme. A seasoned
old pro, however, can calmly wade through the choas to the other side.

I’ve been reading Barry Ritzholt at bigpicture.typepad.com for about 3
months now, and I’ve got to say that I admire his work. He frequently
presents well thought out posts on the stock market and economic data.
It’s a great pleasure to read his analysis several times a week. He’s
got something going for himself that I would eventually like to
establish for myself.
I dream of having a blog where I document my thought process on the
financial markets and offer my analysis through words and charts daily.
What’s the business model?
The blog is an archive. Each day I add to it, the archive becomes more
of a testimony to my capabilities and skill. After several years,
anyone visiting my site will be able to easily search for any of my
writings since the blog started. This would be a wealth of financial
knowledge, similar to a book. Of course, my early years will be full of
mistakes and fumbles, but to err is human and perhaps showing my
progress will also be of value.
As I become well versed in topics of technical, intermarket, and elliot
wave analysis I can share this knowledge with others. I’ll be
simultaneously using the analysis I post as a basis for my own trading.
When I become a profitable trader I’ll make money off the trades and the
distribution of my “expertise.”
The best part about this model is that it will leave me free to work
from home or travel. I strive to spend more time at home and with
family. The job I’ve described would certainly make that a reality.

I am so thankful for such a day. It was simple, and like many others
recently, but still full of so many good things. I’ve had demanding
work to do. I’ve had two excellent meals and I assume I will have a
third shortly. I’m going home to a woman I love dearly, who is hard
working, beautiful and kind. I have great friends who are also working
hard to make it, just as I am. There continues to be a stream of
positive events in my life. I feel that it is important to take stock
in this way every once in a while. It is necessary to count your
blessings, even though they will probably be too many to name. Love,
family, friends, health, and gainful employment are at the top of my
list.
I’m inspired to be grateful because of role models I grew up with, but
also by the daily events of my life. There is are people in New York
City of all degrees of prosperity, from the heirs of dynastic wealth to
the beggers who walk between the trains underground. There are parts of
the world that do not know peace as we do. There is so much to be
grateful for. I think that it takes a positive well rested mind to
fully appreciate them though. There are times when I am too exhausted
to think about anything outside of my lack of sleep.
Perhaps the ability to feel gratitude is itself a great privilege. Can
a person who has not eaten for a week be grateful for love? Can someone
who has poor health be grateful for wealth?
I think this could be the prime of my life.

Okay… So my analysis of the Qs volatility (QQV) turned out to be completely and utterly wrong. The Qs did not experience any significant upward movement this week. Actually they’ve been dropping like a rock, and their volatility is still going up. It’s bouncing off some of the fibonacci levels that I drew in my chart, but its not really treating them as significant resistance.

I knew when I did this analysis that I had not been rigorous because I didn’t have much time to look at bonds, commodities, or currencies. I didn’t expect to be so completely wrong though.

So maybe I should continue my analysis, but with a different strategy. I’ll continue to analyze the markets and come up with my trading thesis. Then I’ll do the exact opposite. If I could have replayed my trading history since March 1st in this way, and including the opposite of my QQV predicition, I’d be up over 40% on the year. I figure that I could ride out this anti-thesis play for a while. Then once I start losing with it I’ll know that my analsys is actually getting good and I’ll switch.

Do you ever wonder where the term frontrunners came from? I did but I
don’t have to wonder anymore.
It was coined to describe the small group of commuters who consistently
crowd into the first mid car compartment of the train so they can be the
first to step onto the station platform.  These guys never quit. They
don’t care to sit because sitting means they are ten minutes later for
their next train. It doesn’t matter if they are tired, there is a wall
to lean on. They are silent. Silently knowing the faces of their
fellow frontrunners. They are the morning mutes who read books or
papers and have little gadgets for distraction.