Category Archives: Strategy

This is Why Your Blockbuster Gain Story is going to Happen

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You’re learning to sit. 

You buy with margin of safety. 

You buy in small quanta,…

…and that’s why you’re always liquid,…

…to avail any opportunity that arises. 

Yeah, there’s nothing impeding your liquidity…

…because you’ve kept yourself virus-free, i.e. debt-free. 

You only buy quality…

…that’s going to be around for a long, long while,…

…because you don’t sell for a long, long while. 

You don’t listen to what the grapevine is saying…

…because of the conviction and strength of your own research and opinion.

Yes, you regularly go against the crowd. 

You either buy into debt-free-ness, or into managable debt that spurts growth. 

Your input into the market doesn’t affect your daily life, leaving you tension-free to address your non-market world and thrive in it,…

…and that is why,…

…for all the above reasons,…

…your blockbuster gain story is going to happen,…

…and what’s more,…

…you are also enjoying the ride leading up to it. 

Using Doubt as an Asset

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Is this really working?

Have I thought this through enough?

Is my strategy sound enough to hold?

Am I going to look like a fool?

Should I just scrap it?

What if I’d followed that other strategy, where the other fellow said he was making tons of money with? (Like hullo, just forget the other fellow, period).

Questions…

…crop up…

…when a strategy stalls, or doesn’t behave like you want it to.

Doubt is par for the course.

Doubt is good.

Keep it at good.

Control doubt.

Don’t let it control you.

I have a great strategy for when doubt crops up.

Nothing.

I do nothing.

I sit on the strategy in question, and occupy my mind with other things.

Now, two things can happen.

Either the strategy starts to work again,…

…or things remain status quo.

If your patience is over, fine, scrap it.

However, mostly, things do get back to normal.

You’ve taken your time to develop something.

Effort and sweat have gone in.

Don’t be in a hurry to scrap something valuable.

A new strategy will take long to develop. Be prepared for that.

Remember, no strategy works all the time.

You’re well served by one that works more than it doesn’t work.

Doubt serves like a stop-loss.

As doubt overshoots critical mass, you start to change things.

Use doubt as an asset.

Till it is overshooting critical mass, keep observing it, but don’t act.

Is there Peace of Mind in the Markets?

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Hey,

First up, is this even the right question?

Should the proper question not be person-centric?

Is there peace of mind in you? Or in me? Or in whoever’s asking?

Sure.

Let’s just cast aside what the proper question should be for a bit.

We are in the markets, and, if not at first, then ultimately, we do crave for peace of mind.

We’ll probably be in the markets for life.

Where does that leave us?

To answer this question in our favour, our mental, physical and monetary condition needs to be peace-of-mind-appropriate while approaching the markets.

Only surplus goes in.

What goes in, does so in small, digestible quanta, an action that does not disturb one’s equilibrium.

Also, we are not perturbed about any down movement because of our small entry quantum strategy.

We have rendered ourselves peace-of-mind-appropriate.

We have also rendered ourselves open to the effects of big moves.

Big move down?

No worries. Buy some more. Small entry quantum strategy ensures ample liquidity, whilst commitment till date has been small.

Big move up?

No euphoria please. Enjoy your peace of mind and sit tight.

For all you know, it becomes an even bigger move.

You actually end up wishing that the underlying cools down, so you can buy some more.

You’re good.

We’ll Take Boring

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Boring…

…is good.

Boring means…

…that you’re on the right track.

We’ll take boring.

What are we talking about?

Equity.

When it’s working according to plan, yeah, you got it, it tends to become a bit boring in the long run.

Don’t get alarmed.

That’s exactly where you want your equity to be.

When it’s there, it’s fulfilling its function, and then some.

You’ve moved away from euphoria.

You’ve moved away from fear.

You’ve arrived at boring.

Look no further.

You’re ready to scale up.

Stocks and the Art of Synthesis

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A lot comes together.

This coming-together is called synthesis.

The word synthesis has now become universal.

It is applied in various fields, including Chemistry, manufacturing and the like.

It is also applied in areas where deep thought boils down facts to unity, to arrive at a conclusion.

What all are we looking at, with stocks?

No action.

Action.

Time-frames.

Market-level.

Selection.

Entry.

Management.

Exit.

One can list other stuff, but this list should do too.

One needs to synthesize the ingredients in such a manner, that the resultant matches one’s risk-profile. [[Why? Matching means successful market-play. Try it out.]]

That, my dear friends, is the art of synthesis, in a nutshell.

 

What’s that other fellow doing?

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The human being is nosy.

Maybe curious is a better word.

Problem is, this one characteristic is enough to make one fail in the market.

Curiousity is a good thing. At the right time and in the right area, yes.

Curiousity is a bad thing at the wrong time and in the wrong area.

However, that’s how we are wired. We like to know what that other fellow is doing, the one who is successful. We want to do the same thing. We want to ape the success. Whether we know anything about that other fellow’s field or not becomes secondary.

That’s when the walls begin to crumble.

Know your field.

Develop it.

Be curious in your field.

Succeed in your field.

If you don’t, after trying repeatedly, change your field.

Find a field that you’re successful in.

If one successful field doesn’t fulfill you, develop a second field.

However, just because your best friend hit the jackpot in his field, don’t move over to his field and expect to hit the jackpot too.

Unfortunately, we show that kind of behaviour again, and again and again.

That’s human nature.

A prime example comes from the stock market.

At the end of a boom, the last ones holding the hot potatoes (stocks that have gone up too much) are the “pigs” (retail traders and investors who buy at exorbitant prices after getting lured in by the successes of the earlier parts of the boom), who then get slaughtered. This is common stock-market jargon, by the way. It has gotten so streamlined, because it has happened again, and again and again.

If you’re doing stocks, do stocks properly. Make stocks your life’s mission. Or, don’t do stocks. Period. There’s no in-between to being successful. Success in stocks, like success in any other field, demands your full attention. Don’t do stocks just because the other fellow made a killing in stocks.

Memory is weak.

Give the bust a few years, and a whole new set of pigs launch themselves at the fag end of the next boom.

Right.

Slaughter.

You’re not a pig.

Know your field. Stick to it. Succeed in it. Period.

What are your Millions Worth?

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Sure, today they’re worth…

…millions.

Nobody’s taking that away from you.

However, tomorrow is a different story.

What will be the shape of your wealth in the far future?

In what form will it be stored?

Identify that now.

Why?

Because you can start pickling away in that form, little by little, right away.

Moving a chunk in one shot is tricky.

You don’t do it unless you’re absolutely sure.

You don’t bet the farm – on anything – period.

You need to move things quantum by quantum, over decades perhaps.

Final destination needs to tally with your risk-profile.

If it doesn’t, you’ll end up being jumpy and uncomfortable, and you’ll make a mistake.

When it’s about your life-savings, there’s no margin for error.

Why has one taken such a large chunk of time into the equation?

You see, when time is expanded long enough, difficult problems becomes easy to solve, because one ends up actually taking time (read pressure) out of the equation. Time is quasi infinite, so one doesn’t worry about it anymore. One has TIME to think things over and decide at leisure.

Also, over the course of a large chunk of time, you might realize that your risk-profile has changed, and that you are not comfortable with the final destination anymore.

That’s fine.

Change the final destination.

You define the rules, remember.

The bottom-line is that in whatever shape and form your wealth is stored in the end, that shape and form needs to address everything you wish that wealth to do and be.

There’s a lot of thinking that needs to go into this.

Do that thinking now.

It pays to be financially literate.

Nobody really teaches you financial literacy in school or college. Bookish knowledge is not financial literacy. Field knowledge is.

You’ve got two options.

Get financially literate on your own by playing the field, making mistakes, and learning, or…

…find someone who is already financially literate, and learn from him or her, from his or her mistakes.

Whatever you do…

…do it now…

…to ensure that your wealth not only remains intact…

…but also continues to grow.

What do you Want?

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Is this one easy?

What do you think?

If this one were easy, we’d probably have no wars.

We’d sail from one fulfillment to another, without squabbling.

Life would be a breeze.

However, things are different on the ground.

We don’t talk to ourselves.

That’s why, for the longest time, we don’t know what we want.

Open the intrinsic dialogue.

Why is it not opening?

We’re so busy addressing the outside world.

We don’t even know perhaps, that a much more meaningful world exists – inside.

That’s the one more worth discovering, actually.

It contains the information about what we want.

We need to extract this information.

How does one do that?

Everything starts with a first step.

So, open the dialogue, yeah, the intrinsic one.

See where it goes.

You like exploring conversation on the dinner table, right?

Why don’t you try exploring conversation here, inside of you?

Next step is hit and try.

You’re in a new world.

Paths have not been defined. Define them. See what works. Discard what doesn’t. From the inside, go outside. If internally you feel that something might work, try it externally.

Keep trying and discarding.

Eventually, something sticks.

That what sticks is what you want.

Once you’ve discovered the groove, you can keep using it to discover more and more of what you want, till the groove stops working.

Then you go about creating a new groove.

Happy Searching!

🙂

When it Rains Learning

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Yeah, when does it…

…rain learning?

You probably might not like what you hear.

Are you used to solitude? Working on your own? Own decision-making?

Or…

…do you look for approval?

…all the time?

We spoonfeed our loved ones when they ask us for help. I’m guilty of this too.

However, in my solitude I did realize, that spoonfeeding is the sworn enemy of learning.

What is learning?

Inculcation to the extent of translation into DNA – that’s learning.

It’s an intrinsic process. Yes, everything about learning happens inside.

When does it rain learning?

When you’re dependent upon yourself for your decisions, that’s when.

One wrong step could break you, so you’re cautious.

Your system is working at full-stretch.

It’s an intense time.

That’s the melting-pot required for DNA translation.

A wrong decision causing loss is rich in learning.

It can also cause depression. However, you know better. You get up, learn, and move on.

A right decision causing profit boosts confidence.

It can also cause euphoria, which offers an entry door towards destruction.

However, you know better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trigger Vigour

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Can you pull a trigger?

Or do you hesitate?

Are you afraid?

This is vital stuff, and you need to recognize this about yourself.

Why?

We’ll go into the why some other time, but let if suffice for now to say that trigger dynamics are part of basic risk-profiling, and if one’s market movement is not as per one’s risk-profile, things generally go wrong.

Back to triggers.

Cast aside pulling, are you able to recognize a trigger?

What comes before recognition?

Definition.

Have you defined market triggers?

Everyone has a different definition of when to act.

You need to know when you are going to act.

No ifs, no buts, just clear-cut action.

Your system will tell you that it’s time for action.

You do a double-check.

Are you recognizing what your system is telling you?

Is what it’s telling you recognized by your mind as a time to act?

Yes?

Then act.

What is the action, you ask?

Hmmm.

Why are you asking that?

You have to define the action too.

Just like you defined the conditions for action, you also define what exactly the action is going to be.

When you act, you pull a trigger. The quantum and style of your action is your follow-through after the trigger is pulled.

Make it mechanical.

As much as possible.

Boiling Down to Unity

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What is unity?

Oneness.

The thing everything has boiled down to.

That, which emerges after all the dust of everything has settled.

Yes, that.

Not the one as in being united, not that unity.

The one-resultant-vector unity.

The equation-being-solved-unanimously unity.

The one big solution for everything that’s bothering you – that unity.

Why are we talking about unity?

Because it is the answer.

What is the question?

Or, what are the questions?

“It’s the question that drives you, doesn’t it, Neo?”

There are many questions.

Each has different questions.

Each strives for a unique unity.

Each must find his or her unique point of peace.

Till then, mind will be restless, something will always be missing, and peace will be elusive.

Are we even talking about money?

You bet.

We strive in a million ways to garner money and make it grow.

We try different methods. Lots of strategies. People. Planning.

What is it boiling down to?

Have we recognised it?

In what form do we wish to see our money ultimately?

Do we have that kind of vision?

Are we standing on the mountain with that bird-eye view?

If yes, our strategies start culminating towards the final goal.

Why?

Because we know where we are going.

How did we know where we were going?

We asked the question.

Then we followed our mind. It led us to the answer.

Took some time, didn’t it?

At least we got there.

That’s huge.

Breathing Space

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I like to breathe…

…between trades. 

There’s something fresh about being market neutral. 

One is decoupled from market forces. 

One feels light. 

If one has just closed a losing trade, there’s hung-over disappointment. 

Forget. 

Breathe. 

Move on. 

On the other hand, if one has just closed a winning trade…

…there’s remnant euphoria. 

Forget.

Breathe. 

Move on. 

Why forget?

The next trade is the next trade. 

It has nothing to do with the previous trade. 

Also, one is recuperating, remember?

Market forces take a toll. 

Market neutral air allows the system to regenerate. 

Don’t mistake this market neutral with the other market neutral. 

Insiders speak of being market neutral when they are hedged, and trades on both sides result in an overall market neutral stance for them. 

Hedged market neutral candidates experience a double whammy of market forces. 

You’ve understood by now, that we are talking about the “not in the of the market” neutral stance. 

Should one then even call it market neutral?

I mean, one can call it sitting out, or something. 

I like to call it market neutral breathing space.

When does the neutral strictly apply?

When I don’t know if the next trade is going to be long or short.

What will the trade direction depend upon?

Data. 

Chart. 

Technicals. 

Fundamentals. 

Whatever cooks your goose. 

However, sometimes, one is on a short-short strategy, or for that matter a long-long strategy. Meaning, that one might be out of a trade, but one is waiting to go short (long) on the next one, and so on and so forth. Meaning that one knows one’s trade direction for a defined time frame. 

Well, I still like to call the breathing space between trades market neutral, even here, because the word “neutral” reminds me to keep an unbiased mind about the next entry point. 

I try to then look at the chart free from the remains of previous experience, in my search for an entry point, even though I know the direction that I will be trading.

How much time can one spend between trades?

Depends on when the next setup arrives. 

Why the hurry?

Enjoy the calm of the space.

Chancing

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How does one discover the missing ingredient?

By chancing it. 

One keeps trying different mixes…

…till something hits. 

The hit is then fine-tuned…

…such that it is reproduced again and again.

Once the hit can be reproduced at will, one has got the strategy all together. 

A successful strategy is then let loose. 

At first it is on manual.

Ultimately, it comes on auto, or semi-auto, whatever best is possible. 

There has come and passed a stage, when this same strategy has not been winning. 

Aha. 

What is the difference between the mix of that stage and the current – winning – mix?

It’s some kind of a twist you’ve discovered. 

Something you are adding, or doing differently. 

This something is making the strategy win. 

Congratulations!

You’ve kept trying. 

You’ve been in the field. 

You weren’t away from the field, ruminating. 

You were getting action. 

Losing action, but action. 

Losing action has huge educational value. 

It tells you how not to do it. 

You keep twisting, fitting, tuning, upon loss. 

You chance new stuff.

Eventually, something clicks. 

You develop that something further and take it to the nth. 

Where does that leave you?

You have to keep chancing it. 

There is no way around this. 

Make funds available for the R&D. 

Have the courage. 

Don’t be afraid of a hundred losses. 

Winning is around the corner. 

Dance the Bawwdy Music!

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..dance the body music

makes you feel so happy

dance the body music

music makes you happy

hear the music play

feel your body sway

hear the dj say

oh what a big smash big smash

dance the body music…

 

Osibisa, was it, late ‘70s?

Yup. 

What an cool swingy number, sung by an unforgettable band!

Disco beat. Rhythm. Easy peasy lyrics. Synth. Floor’s going crazy. Song’s all over the people. People are all over the song. 

Euphoria. 

Why are we talking about it?

Music or euphoria?

Euphoria. 

I used the music element to paint a picture of euphoria in your mind.

What is it about euphoria?

Why does it push me on alert?

Is it that I don’t wish to enjoy my life?

What could I have against euphoria?

I’ll tell you. 

Before I tell you, I’d like to mention that I love the feeling. 

It fantastic being in the feeling. I’ve got one eye on my alerts though. 

WHY?

We make our biggest mistakes when hit by Euphoria. 

Yes. 

Surprised?

Don’t be. 

Under the influence of Euphoria, our biochemistry is so, so different. 

We’re far from peak. 

Our defences are down. 

We are highly capable of plunging into…an abyss…oblivion…call it what you feel is befitting. 

We let go of safety. 

We bet big. 

We bet dangerous. 

We bet the farm.

That’s what euphoria can do to us. 

I do feel euphoric, at times. 

A trade’s gone well. 

A deal’s come through. 

Stability at home. 

Euphoria. 

However…

…as I told you…

…one eye is on my alerts. 

If even a single thought emerges of betting big, bigger than my normal size, well, my predefined red-alert also goes up with such a thought. 

I see my alert’s red flare, and the unwanted thought subsides. 

I am able to sick to within the confines of my position-size rule.

If even one thought emerges of trying a new untested line, just because all current lines are doing ok, well, my predefined strategy saturation alert also goes up with such a thought. 

I remind myself that I’ve decided upon financial strategy saturation, and don’t plan to add a new line, at least not in a hurry or upon an impulse. 

I’m able to stick to my strategy saturation decision. 

Are you understanding what I’m trying to tell you?

If yes, I’m so happy for you. 

You’re not leaving it for later. You’re understanding it without being hit by the aftermath of a decision taken under the influence of euphoria. 

Cheers mate!

🙂

Auto is our Motto

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What are you doing…

…that’s not on auto?

Next question is, why is it not on auto?

On purpose?

Sure, there’s some stuff that you’d like to reserve for manual. That’s absolutely fine. 

Not on purpose?

Meaning you want it to be on auto, but haven’t done so?

Right. 

Why not?

Meaning, why are you not using that one big benefit of the twenty-first century – to your benefit?

Lazy?

Couldn’t care less?

Too complicated?

In a rut?

Whatever. 

Bottomline is, you’re losing out. 

How?

You’re losing out on…

…time…

…growth…

…evolution…

…prosperity…

…sense of fulfilment…

…sense of purpose…

…and what have you.

You can also start figuring out for yourself how you are losing out on these things amongst other stuff. No spoon-feeding here. 

Automation is the minimal requirement of our times. 

Automation requires transcending an activation barrier. 

This is a one-time input, before the concerned process goes on auto. 

This is also the step which makes many lose interest in going auto. 

Well, from nothing comes nothing. 

You will have to put in that time and energy for the one-time input that pushes the process into auto-mode. 

There is no way around it. 

However, each time you’ve gone auto, you’ll get a huge sense of accomplishment. 

You’ll want to recreate that feeling again and again and again. 

You’ll want to put more and more stuff on auto. 

With so much of auto stuff adding to you from the background, your life will become fuller. More enjoyable. More time to pursue whatever you wish to pursue. More time to be…

…you.

Cheers. 

Saturation

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I don’t wish to add to my repertoire.

It has reached some kind of saturation. 

There’s no limit to how far I can go within my repertoire.

However, it is not comfortable with strategy addition. 

Fine. 

Did you just have this dialogue?

With yourself?

It’s good you did. 

While you start out in a field, you’re developing it. 

There needs to come a stage, in a while, where you have exactly identified, that you’re developing this, this and this further. Nothing else. 

Once you know what the exact game is, all your focus is required to take it to the nth level. What that n is going to be is up to you, again. 

Bottomline is, after a point, know your game. 

This is the game. 

This is what you are scaling up. 

That, that, that and that you are discarding, or have discarded. 

You need to reach this point within a reasonable time-frame. 

Then comes the next step. 

Pray, what might that be?

Automation. 

Before embarking upon scaling up, that what remains in your saturated repertoire – automate it. 

Staff. 

Technology. 

What have you.

Use any means for automation. 

Anything that’s legit, and which works. 

Use it. 

Standing instruction. 

Alarm. 

Alert.

Whatever. 

Automation is a huge blessing if used properly and after having tied up all the loose ends. 

If implemented in a hurry with sieve-like loopholes, it can even take you to the cleaner’s.

Implement automation in a justified and sure-shot fashion. 

Do you know what’s going to happen now?

You have created a situation, where scaling up means just punching in an additional 0 in the right corner, before the decimal point. 

Wow.

After a while, the complete field will be on auto. 

Why?

If you’re wise, you won’t scale up beyond your sweet-spot. 

Why?

Because obnoxious scales come with obnoxious problems.

What’s obnoxious?

Anything beyond your sweet-spot…

…is obnoxious. 

What is your sweet-spot?

That only you can discover. 

So what now is the exact status of the field?

Your repertoire in the field has reached complete saturation regarding strategy and scale. It is on full auto. It is adding to your well-being without you batting an eye-lid. 

Congratulations. 

However, where does that leave you?

Is that even a question?

There’s so much to do in the world. 

Discover a new field. 

Develop your new repertoire in this field. 

Take it to strategy saturation. Automate it. Scale it up. Take it to the sweet-spot. Wean off the scaling up. Move on. 

What a life it’s going to be for you!

The Difference between Winning and Losing

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It’s a whisker. 

You’re doing everything right. 

You’re following a proven strategy. 

You’ve adapted. 

You’ve removed many mistakes from your resumé.

Your strategy has undergone refinement. 

Why haven’t you started winning yet?

Yeah, we’re used to asking million dollar questions by now. 

In fact, such questions are all we ever ask. 

What do you think is the answer?

The answer is you. 

Yes. 

There’s something about you. 

It’s not fitting. 

You’ve got two options. 

Either make your strategy fit to this something, or …

… make yourself fit to the strategy. 

Both options can work, and you can start winning. 

Which option is easier to implement?

I think the more relevant question here is a different one. 

Which option befits the situation?

I’ll give you an example. 

I’ve got time issues. 

I make my market strategies fit my time issues. 

I can’t change my time issues, for something or someone will fall short then. Like everyone, I have many commitments too. 

Therefore, I fit my market strategy around me. 

I keep fitting, fitting, fitting, till the strategy either works, or is discarded for want of a win. 

Yeah, that’s me. 

Maybe your situation is different. 

Maybe you need to cater to the public. 

You’re not expecting the public to change to your whims and fancies, are you?

Not as a newbie, no no, that would be a cardinal sin. 

After all, the public is your paymaster, right?

Customer is your king, or queen. 

It becomes different when you turn into a celeb. 

Then you can dictate fashion. 

However, till you become a celeb, fit to the public, if you want to win. 

Behave in a manner that people want to pay for what you have to offer, again and again and again.

Maybe there’s a slight whisker of a trait in your behaviour that people don’t like. 

Change it. 

Whether you’re changing yourself, or fitting your strategy to meet your unchangeable nature or schedule, sometimes it’s only a whisker that makes the difference between winning and losing. 

People have lost olympic medals by one-hundredth of a second. 

What’s that millisecond lag in your own life that you need to get rid of?

Le Kicque

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There’s probably no such word in the French language. 

Well, then, I just made it up. 

Why?

Meaning, why in the world would I concoct a French word, and that too something like le kicque?

The fact that I’m learning French plays a role. 

So does the constant questioning. 

I constantly question myself at every stage. 

Things come to a point, where I find myself asking the question : “Does this still give you le kicque?”

Or, “is this new activity giving you le kicque?”

Fine, then do it. 

If it’s not giving you a kick, don’t do it. 

Every formal thing is perhaps wrong about le kicque. 

It probably should have been la kicque. 

However, informally speaking, la kicque doesn’t feel or sound right to my mind. 

La kicque doesn’t suit my mind’s style and the way it wants to use le kicque. 

The full effect of the French accent is felt by my mind with le kicque.

When it’s putting the question forward, mind goes all French with intonation and accent. 

The question has full impact. 

I have to answer. 

Yes?

Do it. 

No?

Don’t. 

I’ve come to a stage where I find myself only pursuing activities which give me le kicque.

If I’m doing anything else, which does’t give me “the kick”, it’s because I have to do it and have no choice in the matter. 

If I find some optional activity which isn’t loaded with le kicque, I drop it immediately. 

Am I embarrassed that I’ve concocted an idiotic-sounding-grammatically-all wrong-word that would probably insult the French purists?

No. 

Why?

Because its not about the French. 

It’s about me. 

It’s about how I handle myself. 

It’s about guiding oneself through a yet undefined path. It’s about defining one’s path. 

Along the way, one builds bridges. 

Le kicque is one such bridge I’ve built for myself. 

I’m not ashamed of my bridge.

Nor am I embarrassed about it. 

I love my bridge. 

I share my bridge here so that it might help another person. 

If this bridge even helps one more person, the purpose of writing this piece will fulfil itself. 

The Next Step Rumination

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This happens to me. 

Often.

Most of the time, I don’t know the answer. 

So, what is it that happens?

This question pops up : “What is the next step?”

When does it pop up?

When a preceding step has come to its logical conclusion. 

Step, by step, remember? That’s how you build your castle.

Ok, how do I react?

It’s a very normal question by now. 

It’s popped up thousands of times. 

I’ve gotten used to it. 

I think hard. 

Is something coming?

No?

I let it go and delve into some recreational activity. 

Am learning French nowadays, btw. Am blown over by the availability of learning materials. 

Is something coming?

Yes?

What is coming?

Does it sound logical?

Meaning, is it the next logical step?

I think hard. 

And again. 

Till I either discard the idea, or…

… till I take this new next and logical step. 

That is how the cookie crumbles. 

This happens to you too. 

If not, you are missing a trick. 

If so, have you recognised and acknowledged the phenomenon?

Do you have a response?

Yes?

Great.

No?

Perhaps my own response to the phenomenon can give you a hint or two.

Small Shoots to Big Trees

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What do I see around myself?

Lots of small shoots. 

Wherever I look, there are small shoots. 

Does this make me happy?

You bet. 

Why?

Why not?

I mean, you don’t see any trees. 

So?

You’ve been at it for a while.

So?

All you’re seeing is shoots. Does that satisfy you? None of your efforts is a big tree in all this while.

That’s a very narrow-minded, greedy and fast-buck remark. 

Explain. 

For each of the shoots I see around me, twenty efforts have died their death. However, one shoot managed to entrench itself. This one shoot is firm, and goes very deep into the ground. It’s roots have become very strong. It is now ready for the world and has decided to show itself over the ground.  Over the next many, many years, with my meticulous nurturing, this very shoot shall grow up into a mammoth tree with unprecedented positive consequences.

I see. And, you’re saying that you see many such shoots around yourself?

Yes, many many.

Wow.

Yeah, i’ve been busy. I’ve tried and discarded many things. What remained didn’t want to leave me. It got planted and grew roots. Now that the shoots are growing, they are mostly on auto-pilot. Some need tending to once a day, some once a week.

Does that give you empty spaces in between?

Yes.

How do you fill these empty spaces?

I do, and I don’t.

Meaning?

Unless something new refuses to leave me, I don’t wish to plant another tree.

Why?

I’m happy enough tending to what I have.

So you’ve reached the…what’s that called?

Sweet spot?

Yes, you’ve reached the sweet spot. But nobody knows about you. You’re not famous or anything.

That’s why the spot is sweet.

Meaning?

Nobody disturbs my privacy. I can go where I choose. Do what I want. I don’t need to share my time with anyone if I don’t want to. There are no compulsions imposed upon me. 

Do you think you will be famous one day?

When these shoots grow into big trees, that might happen.

Do you want it to happen?

I want my trees to grow. Not sure today about fame. It kills personal life. I like my life and its pace.

Any regrets?

Sometimes, I get lonely. It’s the nature of the path. Despite family and a decent social life, loneliness is still there. Applied finance requires a lot of alone-time. 

How do you deal with that?

I start tending to a different shoot. Financial. Non-financial. Recreational. Creative. Gap gets bridged, and then the loneliness is gone.