I went with my husband to London on Thursday in order to follow Drs Ron & Edie Perry ‘s seminar about PPT. If you want to understand better what it is all about I’d suggest you have a look at this address: www.entrance.me.co.uk. As for me, although I still see NLP as a very useful and interesting tool, my interest is actually vanishing a bit for all disiplines related to it. So I didn’t exactly dragged my feet to get there, but I wondered if I had made the right decision by going. You see, I was probably more interested in watching the DOW and testing this new strategy that is actually entirely mine. Nevermind.
I was very pleasantly surprised. I had met the Perrys in Novemebre during a one day seminar about PPT. They are clever, witty and very kind- which is considered quite unusual in England when you want to qualify Americans. Their discipline – a derivative of Fedenkrais, bodywork & NLP- gives without a doubt results. It demands though dedication and miracles are not accomplished in one go; I witnessed though a firend of ours who suffers from MS go through one consultation of 35 minutes regain mobility in one foot, have better posture and be able to walk almost straight ( still supported by crutches though) despite the fact that he was exhausted. My friend said that the pain was still there and that the treatement in itself seemed quite difficult when you are on your own, but as a witness I could see a very clear difference in his movements and posture which was definitely convincing that this treatment was working.
So I was curious to learn what I could during these 3 days. How to get rid of arthritis, straithen backs, get shoulders and hips re aligned, send to no-where Land headaches, colds, sciaticas, and more…I was game for it. The good side was that you don’t need to be a doctor or a physiotherapist to understand the principles. A little knowledge of bones and muscles position helps; a hint of basic in mechanics is a plus. Being an absolute ignorant in both departements, I was slightly worried I might mess up. And there was one of the culprit: you can’t mess up. If you listen to your patient and follow the advice and learning of the Perrys, there is no way you can do any damage. In the very worst of case, you’ ll have no effect at all. In the medium range , you will see some progress towards the path of health. In the best cases, you will have a patient who will ask you how you bloody did it.
Trading remains my passion and my work. I suspect that my dear husband will invite me sometimes to give him a hand – literally, or two- when he has a complex or long case. I am very happy I learned something so useful as it makes quite a difference in the little problems of mobility that occur with older age.
I spent my time and my money wisely. I can only hope that more people will get involved in the process. The Perrys are excellent teachers and as human beings absolutely delightful. Long Live PPT! I can be literal again!

I have several female friends lately whose marriage has gone into crisis. Some of them think that the symptoms are mild and some of them believe that the situation is getting serious. I have been ask for advice – a task I actually fear when it comes to intimate relationships. Now ask me about your boss, your children, your mother – and I will tell you my deepest thoughts about them. But husbands and wives…That’s another matter. Why? Because in my experience, when you are asking for advice on the subject, it means that you are not ready to make a decision. And whatever I’ll say, you will be the devil advocate. And usually the discussion ends with both party feeling misunderstood at best, hurt at worst.
But the truth is, I have plenty of advice for all situations. So I am putting them here, in the hope I will never hear the dreaded question again.
Beware that I have one failed marriage behind me, and one that is so far the dream one. I went from one extreme to another, so I can’t really pretend I am an expert on the subject. But I also love top open my big mouth, so here you are, open your ears, agony aunt is ready to spill it all out.

Your case is mild if you still remember why you fell in love in the first place, you still want to have sex with your other half no matter what and you are conscious that he/ she is doing his/ her share most of the time. If you are in these territories where you feel that not everything is perfect in your couple but you are willing to talk about it, then this is my advice: take at least a weekend off every two months. Go away. Plan it a little bit – like the place you’re are going to stay at, and enjoy the surprises of the unexpected. Talk about anything and everything, including your dreams, your goals, your values, your memories and this especially about anything you have in common. Leave the kids with someone if you have any. What you probably need is some time alone, some good sex and some adventure. If you can stretch it to a week or a month, it is even better. Now if you spend this time fighting or bickering, I’d suggest you are in phase two. The unmild one.
Your case is starting to be serious if you argue a lot, feel resentful about things that you bottle up – until one of you explode- or if you sulk for more than 3 minutes. It is also serious if you realize that you both diverge in issues such as money, sex, values, goals and time spent together. It is also serious when you notice that promises are, well, just promises. By the way, a promise that is not kept, or that is delayed, or that is filled only once or for a week ( such as taking the bins out or going to Venice on a second honeymoon) is a lie. If you are angry, you can say it is a blatant lie. For the women who still haven’t got that point, when man say one thing ( such as : you and the kids are the most important thing on earth to me) and do another ( workoholic doesn’t even remember when children have their birthday or never turns up for the holidays or simply, the goodnight kiss), then he is lying. He is not thinking one thing and doing another. He is telling you what you want to hear in order for you to leave him alone. For the men who are oblivious, a wife who stops telling you what happens at work and suddenly loses weight is a warning sign that her attention is somewhere else and probably in the hands of someone who shows a minimum of care. For both genders, if you have problems with your other half but still believe that if he/ she would change/ make the effort of/ finally listens to your demands your relationship would work, then you are deluding yourself seriously. You married a projection of an ideal, not a person. My advice is that it is up to you to fight or not. But if you do, try to do it nicely and play fair. Don’t try to make him/ her jealous or envious. Don’t play with their feelings. If you do, it may work – for a time. But if it becomes a habit, you will have to top it up more and more with threats that you might be unwilling to carry. And you may have more to lose than you imagine. Now to play fair, you have to be able to see both sides- up to a limit. Note the things that he/ she is doing well and the efforts involved in the process. Then choose a moment when things are calm and ask to have a proper discussion about one specific subject that annoys you – just one, don’t mix up work, kids, in-laws and money at the same time. It can become overwhelming and get out of hands rapidly. In order to do so, give a 15 or 30 minutes rule- with no overtime. It obliges you to keep to the subject and be concise. It helps. And if you go nowhere with this…
Your are in the desperate phase. It is usually the final one. You basically can’t stand your sweet half. Even seeing him/ her munch his / her lunch gives you the creep. You feel like screaming inside when you imagine a dialogue with him/ her- and if you actually listen to what you are saying, it sounds more like a monologue and you are a victim. You have fantasies about leaving/ meeting someone else/ killing him/ her / asking for divorce. You still make excuses to stay – such as : but I love him so much!, except when… a here the list is not exhaustive. And last but not least, there is no sex, no sparkle, and when there is, it is more hygienic than anything else- but it can become repulsive, even though it is hard to admit. What stops you to leaving has actually nothing to do with the relationship itself or the person you used to love; it has more to do with money problems, what people will say, how you are going to deal with the kids , etc. Like it or not, you are going to leave sooner or later. At this stage, any resistance is just useless.

In order to have a good marriage, I believe that several things are important. You have to accept that the fusion phase is over. But that complicity replaces it. Sex is more comfortable, but it is up to you to make it imaginative. Not every word is important, but listening is. Sharing time, interests, ideas is paramount. Patience is key, concessions are inevitable. My husband calls them sacrifices. In my view this involves something that you suffers to lose- but he stretches that it can be uplifting. So acceptance is the word. Reviewing your common values from time to time may be useful. Your paths may start to diverge without you noticing. In these days and age when we now have so many choices and such a longer life, it may be silly to expect to follow a traced destiny. This is also valid for relationships.
And if you treat the people around you with kindness, respect and fairness, you should expect the same in return. If it isn’t what you give, be prepared to gather the fruit of your lack of efforts.
THere is no recipe for a perfect combination. My belief is that you have priorities and that the person you choose has to correspond in some ways. I ‘ve been told that my marriage is probably not the ideal one as my husband is not the main breadwinner at the moment. But in my view, I have it; I wanted a family man, and under this aspect, he has always shown that the children and I were his priority, in all circumstances. Money has never been the main characteristic I was looking for in a man- and this hasn’t changed. But I guess that what I think of my marriage has nothing to do with what other people believe it is. And I don’t mind.

A last word of advice. A French writer once said that marriage chains are so heavy that you have to be at least 3 people to bear them. Although it is funny – as much as the aristocrats joke- it isn’t true. When a third party is involved, you add insulty to injury- and as far as I’ve been witnessing it- complicates the situation to the Nth degree. But some people like to play with fire. Interestingly enough, they are always the most reluctant ones to watch their house burning.
I wish you all good luck with this one.

I started to write this blog because I thought it could be fun and quite a challenge updating it. I also believed that it would allow my friends, spread all over the world, to be updated about my whereabouts without having to phone me or wait for an email. Although I am very faithful and constant- I even still call every other year my childhood friends.
Now when you keep a blog, a few things happen. One, you get unwanted messages. Like spam porn and other funny things- I am still amazed at the number of emails I receive that promise me that my penis will be bigger or my sex life enhanced. The fact that ” James” is in my address and email address sems to be confusing. I even received an email from my broker that started with: Dear James…How easy. What about checking the actual real name of your customers? If I had put ” Batman” in my address, would I have received ” Dear Batman”?. I might try that. Will I still be offered to have my penis enlarged? Am I swiftly being transported in a new sci-fi age I totally ignored existed?
Okay, now two: you get lots of responses. One of my best friends told me she loved reading my blog as it wasn’t boring. She confessed that she has another friend who updates her blog, bless her, every day. But the content shows why: she has nothing to do. All she relates about is how she put her make up on and what she did during the day. Subject number one: her children. And how wonderful they are. It seems that the more I was hearing about it, the less I wanted to know. Why? Because we are all the same. It may be comforting to learn that so and so does the same things that you do, like eat blue cheese in the morning on a baguette and brushes her teeth BEFORE breakfast. Wow. That’s news. Keep me updated please, I need more. No kidding I am sure that some people do find comfort in these types of blog- as they feel lonely. But what is the point really? For the blogger it sort of seems that he/ she is throwing a bottle in the sea. Maybe someone, in this big wide world, will pick it up, and oh miracle, will actually respond to it. This has as many chances to happen than to win the lottery – and it is a very overstated guess. Now if you want to get more responses, I suggest you have a face lift with pictures on every step of your recovery or that you become Perez Hilton. Well my blog does get responses and quite a few reactions. It seems that my report on Bobbi Brown’s book was a winner between women over the age of 31. I had to discuss the merits of ageing versus the ones of using every possible means to deny it, the weight of society – the blame was largely put on men on this one, although I would have thought that it is up to the women themselves to decide what they should really do about it.I had to compare the benefits of cutting your hair as soon as you hit 41 against being wild and crazy and keeping it long- by the way, mine is now reaching my breast and I intend to grow it longer. Anyway, the bottom line is that my blog seemed to have triggered a lot of fun.
I had a look around though. Now you have my space.com & Facebook.com, secondlife.com and so on. The more the merrier I guess. But what amazes me is how open and careless all these people are. In a simple click of the mouse you find out – in one page- who they are, where they live, what they like and dislike, where they go to party, if they are druggies or swingers, and so on and so forth. I am not talking about the ones desperate enough to have pages and pages of friends they actually don’t know, but I bet they think they are cool. No one seems to think that their boss might one day check these pages. ” I love: Robbie Williams, getting drunk and shoes” says one. Another one makes the list of his likes and loves; interestingly enough, there is no mention of his long term girlfriend. This other couple posted – separately- that he wants kids, but she doesn’t. And I am not talking about the ex who lists an incredible list of books, movies and cds that you used to love at the time you were together – and have probably ceased to like since you both split up. Pathetic, in a way. But terribly fascinating. These people are opening their life to unknowns who may not be friendly but they don’t seem to communicate much with their life partners. How conscious are they of their underlying relationship contract?. That’s what I’d like to know.
I have even witnessed discussions via skype – i.e. instant communication – where things were said and totally ignored. Then you come back to the subject and your interlocutor seems to struggle to understand something you told him previously, as if sending a message has simply become sufficient to sustain the communication. The meaning becomes unimportant.
At the end of the day, it is not only what you do that counts, it is what you are that makes a difference. And it seems to me that among this sea of words that never dies nobody really knows. And nobody really cares.

I have a teenager at home. You know, one of those who says ” HHun”- this strange sound that comes from the roof of the mouth and at the same time the back of the throat. In three years time, I’ll have 3 teenagers at home. People recoil in horror when they hear this. They warn me of all the miseries that await me- the mood swings, the silence, the lack of dialog, the porn magazines under the bed, the odd transformation of your lovely cute children into strange and unpleasant alien entities who take your home for a very cheap hotel.
Well, people, I’ve got news for you. I love teenagers.And so far – I’ve had plenty of experience with them thanks to unconscious or simply fed up parents who send them to me for the summer holidays in order to have a chance to catch up with sleep, sex, spring clean up and a marriage on the verge of divorce- not always in this order.
I love teenagers because:
– When they go through this phase of turmoil, you know you’ve done your job right. If they don’t have their crisis before 20, you can bet they will have it later. This means they will have then more money, more freedom and less common sense ( or scrutiny from their parents) and will in consequence do drugs, catch if possible all of the sexual diseases that rule the planet and instead of saving money for their retirement or paying back their mortgage they will drink it and buy expensive handbags.
– They are having a hard time. I see you blink. ” What?” you say. ” Hard time? Them? What should I say?!”. Well this is not about you. And trust me, the kids have it rough. You have forgotten all about it – so let me explain. When hormones start to kick in and your beloved child starts growing hairy patches all over his/ her body (although in the female case you may soon discover when you razor disappear that this goes more or less unnoticed as girls are supposed to get rid of it as fast as possible), more changes occur that you may not be aware of. Their brains for example starts expanding again. The sad results is that the connections of the brains get messy for a while as it takes some time for them to develop and reconnect properly- and a lot of sugar. This fact doesn’t usually go unnoticed as the teenager starts answering to all questions/ injunctions/ verbal exchange with the well know expression :” Hhhhuun?”. Worse, things that took the ever patient parents 12 years to teach him/her seem now to have been lost in the stratosphere. They don’t remember how to make their bed, load the dishwasher or get properly washed themselves; they seem to be unable to answer simple demands or have the slightlest hint of humor- unless it is at your own expense and sotto voce; worse still, their homework is the last thing on their minds and sex the first ( if sex is not, start searching their rooms for drugs). This process is more or less long- depending of how much catching up their brain has to do. So now, not only they have to deal with a world they barely understand and a body that looks like a horror movie ( let’s not talk about the pizza face that might magically appear in their mirror without warning), they have to deal with you. Because there is one thing you may not know: the release of these hormones is faster that the extension of the brain connections. The result is that most of the reality of their day – and most of their teenage years- will get simply erased from their memory. Some facts may survive if there is a specific reason ( accident, death, heartbreak) until adult age, but most of it gets lost forever.
– Teenagers are caught up between childhood and grown up time. It means that they still have moments where they don’t want to be responsible for their actions and/ or future but at the same time, they are showing signs of individual conscience . It means that they may react about the pollution of the earth, the political environment, the eradication of the rainforest but truly not care about your electricity bill or your efforts to separate your recycle bin items from the non recycle one. The sad truth is that they don’t know what they want ( there is a lack of experience there) but they know they don’t want to be, well, like you. By the way, do you have any reason to want them to be like you? This might give you an excellent opportunity to question yourself and your childhood dreams- and blow a fuse and buy a new jag. The dialog can turn sour very quickly if you try to double guess every sentence that is fired at you. Think computer, answer linear. Don’t be afraid to set limits ( the shouting and abuse you’ll get from it will let you know if you’ve gone too far, just measure the decibels) and let them know what is on your mind. A little introspection may not hurt. If you are sincere, you can always try to explain that being a parent is a hard job as you have just one go at it and no practice beforehand. Setting up rules that you discuss calmly is not a bad idea. Stick to your ground when it is important for you. But let them have some new freedom- with a limited responsability.
– Teenagers are into discovery mode. That includes drugs, sex, and all kind of fun that you have forgotten about which is usually immoral, illegal or fattening. Happy life mode. Do not expect schools to be their guardians. Do not believe that their friends are cuter than your own kid is ( they hide the ones you would hate- they are not stupid). Do not wait for problems to happen. Prevention works quite well. Have an open discussion about drugs. Drugs are highly enjoyable. If you tell them otherwise, they will never trust you again because 1) they either have heard the opposite from the mouth of someone else or 2) if they ever give it a go, they will probably like it and will instantly come up to the conclusion that you told them a bunch of lies – and any other good advice you will have sprinkled in their minds over the years will be lost. So what do you do? You tell them the truth. Can be: I’ve never done drugs because…Can be: I tried drugs and came to the conclusion that…Or: I am still doing drugs and look at the result today ( this works beautifully). I have personnally explain to all the kids I know that I’ve tried drugs – twice – in my life and although I did enjoy my first time, I didn’t like the addictive feeling it produced. Plus there is a dark side of drugs. They produces endorphines and nice sensations which actually start decreasing the production of the same by your own brain. You then feel depressed or down when your brain doesn’t do its job – hey, why make the effort when it can get it just like that?. The situation of course worsens and that’s why you end up with people having, at best, mood swings and loss of memory, at worst, dying alone in the gutter. Plus never forget that depending of the drug, your first shot could be your last. It’s like Russian roulette, you never know when your number is up. It can be the 31st, the 1004th, whatever…But it always come up. These simple facts may seem trivial but if they are delivered before some bozo tells them otherwise ( and teenage colleagues are really persuasive), the inprint in their mind might be more powerful than any speech in the schoolyard. If you have a live example to offer- such as a relative or the acquaintance as a friend who’s a real junkie who’s spent half of his life in prison, do not hesitate to introduce the two to each other. Most drug addicts, if asked, are more than happy to help you keep your kids off the street. They are a powerful influence in this instance. Sadly sex addicts and serial daters have the opposite effect, so beware.
– Teenagers are a really interesting species. They catch up with tecnological progress so fast that if you listen carefully you’ll be soon the crack of the office. Their questions usually hit the chore of any problem and they can have quite original solutions to your problems- if you have any. The moments where you can talk to each other without any resentment or animosity can be really precious and it is basically your last chance to discover who your child really is. If you have the energy to follow his daily events ( and you’re able to relax about the school performance) you may build a bond that will last forever.
– Teenagers are our future. You have to trust them as they will be the ones choosing your nursing homes in a few years time. Keep that in mind when you interact with them. By the way, most kids – whatever the age- have a tendency to learn by osmosis, i. e. by what you show them and what you do. Forget what you say, most of it is considered bollocks. Keep this in mind too.

I know you, parents, are having a rough time too. Well done, it means you’ve done your job. The end of the road is not near, but this is going to be a crucial phase for both of you. A little planning never hurts. A little love goes a long way. And an eye open is worth a thousand words.
Good luck, to all of you.

My lovely husband is forcing me to share his company with hundreds of unknowns. He’s setting up his practice of hypnotherapy and NLP in Ipswich- where we live now. He has been quite successful at it – to the point that I am getting worried he might end up with a fan club. To be honest I admire his skills – and the fact that he was not afraid to treat a patient who had Alzheimer, a thing I had never heard of before in NLP. His patience and compassion are great – and his ability to find solutions to any sort of problems absolutely astonishing. He’s able to cure phobias in about 5 minutes sharp. His ability to help people to quit smoking is so good that I may open soon a second hand cigarettes shop – as his clients are handing him their unused cigarettes ansd their lighters. We have quite a pile now in our living room and I am considering starting to smoke and getting the kids on it in order to diminish it. Only kidding.
Anyone interested can contact him through his website: http://www.entrance.me.uk
Please, do not call in the evening – I would like to have a family life- after 8pm. He is a nice guy but I am a bitch and have a tendency to reclaim my territory.
Oh, yes, I forgot: of course he does it on me, how else could I otherwise say that he’s good? I told you before – I backtest everything.

So I decided to give my husband – and also my father-in-law – a hand and started working on our house too.
I was asked to strip. With my father-in-law. Together. And of course nobody would pay me. So here I went, i strated stripping doors and doors frames, first with some chemical – it is long and it sucks- then with sort of a heat gun ( I think the real name is a hot air stripper)- that was much quicker, but after a few hours my hand went numb, and the following days I had to keep doing it until my hands and arms were just swollen and painful day and night. And I could taste lead for several days afterwards.
Once I did some stripping I had to start putting the undercoat on the walls in order to be able to start painting before we actually leave for our Easter holidays. I was horrified to hear that a professional painter would ask us 90£/per hour to do the job so I said we would do it. My husband in the meantime was rebuilding the fireplaces, surveying the plumber, buying the missing tiles and other bits and bobs that rebuilding a house implies. It is fun to see him and his father in the B & Q building. They are like kids in a candy store. to be honest, I am starting to have fantasies about doing my own upholstery in the near future, learning how to sew dresses for my daughters and curtains for the house, and I went as far as looking up for courses on designing and building your own furniture. And it took me 5 weeks to decide what colors I’d use for the walls – and about 52 sample tins. Amazingly my husband never complained. I am glad I don’t have a picture of him in this blog as i am quite certain that am army of women would start stalking him.
The scaffoldings were put up this week – 4 days late on the program and by a bunch of very rude people. The roof guys turned up by the end of the week and we’re expecting to see this finished by the end of April- weather permitting of course.
We won’t be able to finish the jobs before our departure but the house is not habitable right now and with 5 kids, it is impossible to take the risk to stay. I am looking forward to moving in. I really like the house and I am trying to do everything by the book. I even had a Feng Shui consultant to make sure that I was covering every aspect, including spiritual safety! Sad but true. And yes my hubby thinks I am a nutter but he still does it.
So more painting is on the cards next week. The lead should be completely erradicated from the premises by then and the plastering of the walls should be dry. We still have two rooms to plaster though – so i shall not see the result before our return.
I find hard to go away. My life is fractionned at the moment. I am trading when I am at my in-laws, working on the house when I am home, trying to catch up with my daughters and my sons during the weekends and tracing material. I never thought I’d be so busy this year. And I have the feeling that time will fly.
But I am a dreamer – and I just can see us all there…

My husband was teasing my eldest daughter ( aged four now) about a month ago. He told her: ” Have you been a good boy today?”. She laughs and she said : ” You know I’m a girl. I have been a good girl today.”
-Are you sure? asked my sweetheart. I thought you were a boy and I was a girl.
-Daddy, came the reply, if you are a woman, the you are a very ugly one!
No comment.
Girl power.

So far I have nothing to say. My weight has stabilized and I eat like a pig at the moment. I suspect that if I do this for much longer I might head for trouble but it turns out this weekend that I am not tha hungry anymore again. I blame my hormones. I snacked on sugar mainly.
I need exercise – which is complicated at the moment as I am staying with my in-laws while our house is getting fixed/ rebuilt/ redone/redecorated by my darling and truly wonderful husband. I have to sort this out.
I am being told though that I am lucky as I don’t look bad and I am already above 40 for god’s sake. I am thinking of ageing gracefully- i.e. ignoring it fully. My kids keep me busy anyway. By the time the last one will be out of the house I will have grand children from the eldest so someone will love me anyway, wrinkles and all.
Now I want my husband to keep thinking that I have the greatest bum in the world- among a few other things.
This is going to be fun.

So we are moving. It explains why I have been silent for so long, but we were too busy packing, cleaning and searching for new materials for our new home to then have the energy to do anything else but fall asleep at night. We have been trading too – my worst month since last February. I made all the mistakes I had so patiently learned to avoid. I overtraded, searched for opportunities that were not there, changed strategy, moved my stop losses, entered the trades too late…Shall I continue?. It was a disaster. To make things worse ( yes, it is always possible) I also decided to follow the advice of my ex trading coach and went back to trading according to the strategies I had learned during a cousre. It was a disaster.
There is this myth among traders that you have to let your profits run and cut your losses. By all means I am not saying that you shouldn’t cut your losses- but taking your profits? It’s up to you really. We all like to say things like:” Have you seen that share today? It rocketed 30 points and I was in it!”. Great, good for you. So we all want to ride the wave until the wave ends up on the shore. But what most people forget is that the waves goes back to the sea, sooner or later. It is extremely rare to be able to get out at the highest point of a movement- especially if you look at the spread. You can never sell higher than the offer, can you? So whatever you do, you always lose a little bit. And what most traders do is wait for the price to hit their stop loss, that they have hopefully tightly trailed.
But here you go, I am not greedy enough. I am happy with making smaller benefits if they are constant. Sadly they were not after mid January and I lost it playing someone I am not.
February has now started and I am ready in my starting blocks. I’ve cleaned my act, re done my plan, double check my trades and gotten rid of bad habits. The market is good, news are not too unsettling and it works for me again. But what I am more and more aware of is that we all trade differently. As for me, I ignore indicators such as RSI, MACD and even Fib levels most of the time. But I use volume, listen to the news and I compare sectors in case of doubts. I also have a few tricks to estimate if a strategy seems good- but I am quite sure that they work only for me. Most of the good traders I know fully ignore the news and trade only according to technicals. I find this irrationnal as when the news come up in the morning that such and such company is being upgraded/downgraded/bought back – whatever- it gives you a good clue about what is going to happen next and I don’t want to waste my time with a share that might reverse on me within the next 4 hours. Obviously I am being very cautious – so maybe I am in the wrong job. I also don’t want to trade the news if I don’t have a good strategy to support my act.
Lately I also have been asking my fellows traders how they are doing. Was I the only one to be down? Had they the results they were hoping for? I had interesting answers. The first one, the most common, was that the people who were still hanging on live purely on the hope that they are going to make it, sooner or later. They come up with all sorts of excuses; they haven’t been trading like they should, they are only playing small sums of money but when they will do this seriously it will be much better, they have been procrastinating, they have missed opportunities…I shall pass the list if you ask me. The truth is that trading is all about discipline. You do not trade better – but you can do worse- because you’re playing with more money. Discipline is a master key in this business and if you are not up to it, if you’re not working hard at it, you never will. You have to correct your mistakes when you make them – and you should never repeat them . ( I have a quote about this one: ” I learned so much from my mistakes. I should make more”. Sadly I don’t know the author of this one). Hope is a wonderful thing- but when you trade, you have to keep learning, doing and discipling yourself.
I also learned a lot from people who are telling you/ selling you their strategy. I usually ask them a lot of questions and listen carefully to what they say. I also ask for examples. My favorite part is when they tell me about how much % they can achieve- it is usually a high number. Have they made it yet? nope, because that was when they back tested it. I am still waiting for someone who show me real results – and marvellous ones. So if you do know him/her, let me know…As for me, in my experience, I get 2 out of 5 potential good trades in a day. The 3 I miss usually appear while I am in the shower, changing nappies or as for today, busy buying a bathroom. And of course, it happens every day. So I don’t believe in the back testing thing, although I’ve been known to not miss any trades as I was able to take my laptop to the loo. When I did, trust me, the market was as quiet as a dead mouse.
So I’ve made my mistakes, I have cleaned my act – I hope- and I haven’t lost all faith in the process. Will this be enough?I’ll keep you posted.

I believe I already narrated the fact that I think we should get prepared for our New Year’s resolutions- in order for them not to fail , or at least, not to fail too quickly. One of my resolutions was to lose some weight, if possible without a specific diet. I used Paul McKenna cd – that promises you to get you there without pain and/or effort. Too good to be true, yes, but I was willing to give it a go.
So far, so good. Really? Yes. I’ve listen to the cd before Christmas and didn’t put on any weight during the festivities. I listen to it again before the New Year, and I started losing weight. So far, we are talking 2kgs – or 4 pounds- which is almost half of what I’d like to lose. I noticed that I am sometimes slightly hungry and conscious of it, which I find alright. I’ve stop snacking and I touched chocolate only once – without guilt. I certainly eat less but it doesn’t seem to bother me. So I am satisfied. We shall see how it all continues. From experience I do know that when you use NLP you have to repeat the exercises- or in this case the listening of the cd- regularly and several times for it to work. So I shall listen to it again this weekend.
I am still testing the method, but if it goes on lke this, I may not have to test another and I shall be done by the end of the month with my weight loss resolution!
Now there is no magic- you still have to have some discipline. But there is definitely no pain involved, and no frustration. And I am eating anything I like- less of it, but I don’t miss the part I am not having, so….
Good start of the year.