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I thought I might start a little thread here in the psychology area as this topic is of most interest to those who think about and plan for the future.
While its titled New Years Resolution, it might more appropriately be titled "Q4 Wrap Up and 2014 Planning and Projections" or some other such fancy corporate name.
Back in my corporate America job, we did quarterly as well as year end planning. I also did it on a personal basis from more of a life plan perspective.
I've done this off and on for 20 years now and can say that it has been of enormous benefit to me and my family. Most of my major milestones have come as a result of this type of review and forward planning. So I was curious if others have and what they might be doing this coming year.
So what I'd like to do here is see if people will participate with the answers to the following questions;
1. Do you do any kind of formal written year end review? 2. Do you do any formal written forward projections and goal setting? 3. Do you lay out action plans for those goals and projections? Step by step or are they more of just big picture items 4. What tools do you use to accomplish these activities/ 5. Do you use the concept of a retreat/working vacation to work on this stuff? If so, what/where/how does this look for you and your family? 6. How long have you been doing this? 7. Has it been of any benefit? If yes, tell us a brief story about how it has helped. 8. Do you use a coach of any kind for this part of your professional life? If yes, who are they and was it/is it worth it? 9 Do you want a coach but cant find one/cant afford one? 10. What if anything are you going to do different with regards to your year end review and forward planning process?
I'm really interested to hear what others have and are doing. Hopefully there will be some great takeaways from the discussion.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci
Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
1. Do you do any kind of formal written year end review?
Yes
2. Do you do any formal written forward projections and goal setting?
Yes
3. Do you lay out action plans for those goals and projections? Step by step or are they more of just big picture items
Yes, follow Van Tharp guidelines, "Self-Discipline in 10 days: How To Go From Thinking to Doing by Theodore Bryant" 4 stages (Decision/Preparation/Action/Completion & Maintenance), John C Maxwell, Eckhart Tolle, Dalai Lama.
4. What tools do you use to accomplish these activities/
Record and monitor with excel, breakdown into groups and sub-tasks that serve purposes of higher level goals + monthly review + teachings of Eckhart Tolle, Dalai Lama to keep the mind on course.
5. Do you use the concept of a retreat/working vacation to work on this stuff? If so, what/where/how does this look for you and your family?
No vacation, but spend time alone 2/3 times per month thinking through ideas
6. How long have you been doing this?
3 years
7. Has it been of any benefit? If yes, tell us a brief story about how it has helped.
Yes, I have a clear roadmap of what are required to attain higher level goals. Help to filter / reduce unnecessary effort and time on things that do not serve higher level goals.
8. Do you use a coach of any kind for this part of your professional life? If yes, who are they and was it/is it worth it?
No coach. Books, videos, forums and communications with other people as source of learning and reflections
9 Do you want a coach but cant find one/cant afford one?
Yes I want, but believe the coach has to be someone who you trust unconditionally. Which is hard to find, maybe not available besides myself.
10. What if anything are you going to do different with regards to your year end review and forward planning process?
Have a coach or someone who is experienced in areas concern for advice
Depends what you mean exactly, I don't write up a report of what I did, why and what I should have done, although I should because I've often wanted that sort of material from previous years to check for one reason or another.
Yes, I have a 7 Habits calendar with forms specifically for describing roles and goals and fitting them into each day / week / month.
I come from the software industry where time projections are notoriously unreliable, so I tend to work out the steps involved but only schedule the first.
A 7 Habits calendar / diary from Franklin Covey which allows for implementation of Stephen Covey's 7 Habits principles and actions. They also have an online version but I don't have a smartphone so it wouldn't be worth it (need to carry it around).
In an ideal world that would be so. In an ideal world my partner would use the same tools that I do and we'd be able to help each other and it would make perfect sense to take a long weekend break without the kids to do so. That though is massive pie-in-the-sky (item to work on ).
I did it for a couple of years in the 1990s when I was single and it worked well, but I stopped when I went on a big backpacking trip and failed to pick it up. I did pick up eventually 3 years ago. The first year I hardly applied it, the second year was better but this year I haven't made much progress or so it seems - probably because I didn't do the necessary work at the end of last year
Now I'm writing this I have to admit I still haven't applied the method completely and this is not surprising since my main activity is trading and my main goal is to become profitable. There's no coach helping me on this (with 7 Habits or with trading) which kind of makes it harder. The 7 Habits stuff is for everything in life, not just work, and outside trading, it's been a great help in everything with prioritising. I've been able to keep tabs on everything I wanted to and I know the stuff that's fallen by the wayside just had to go - and I don't regret it because I planned it, unlike in previous years.
No, wish I had.
Yes exactly. I asked a guy to coach me in my trading once this year but was declined.
I need a different approach to planning for trading. At the moment, I do it a bit like politicians plan for power - they don't, they just try to get elected. I try to get profitable. This is influenced by my friends and family although I try to deny it, I can't. They ask, when will you make money? And I always fall into the trap of trying to answer them. It's more like hiking up a great mountain, all the time all I can see is the brow of the hill up ahead, but I have no way of knowing if it's the top. I get over the brow, and no, it's not the top, there's a lake or a meadow to cross and another slope up. Each time I get higher, but each time there is more to climb. It puts the doubt in my mind that this mountain might be infinitely high.
If it was easy to plan to trade profitably, it would have been written down and posted on the net and everyone who could be bothered to do the work would be a profitable trader. In my opinion of people, 50% of us are always willing to do the work, but the fact is that only 10% of us can be profitable traders. So the problem is, I don't know beyond the next step what I have to do to be profitable. All I can do is take the next step and see what happens, and if I fail, then the step after will come from that.
The key is probably to plan the next step really, really well. Not to waste too much time and money on it, to come up with a great way of measuring success or failure at it - simply 'trading profitably' is way too undefined - it has to be a test.
This is a great idea for a thread, Panda - don't stop it. It's made me think in ways I should have been thinking 3 years ago. Thank you very much for coming up with it.
You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.
1. Do you do any kind of formal written year end review?
Yes- I review daily - Weekly - Monthly and will have an overall yearly review of where
I stand today compared to a year ago.
2. Do you do any formal written forward projections and goal setting?
Over a year ago I set up a project plan with assumptions made at the time- I revised this plan
to more of a task list- as I learned from my mistakes and required a change of course.
3. Do you lay out action plans for those goals and projections? Step by step or are they more of
just big picture items
I have both- The goal is to include that these steps by step tasks are in-line with my big picture strategy.
Each day I review my performance against my strategy and measure my performance -
Not by profit but if I have followed my method.
4. What tools do you use to accomplish these activities/
I mark up my charts with my comments- I use Ninjatrader stats- I transfer my charts to Ipad and review
for weekly reviews.
5. Do you use the concept of a retreat/working vacation to work on this stuff? If so, what/where/how does this
look for you and your family?
Yes Every year about this time we usually take off somewhere nice and different to a timeshare.
Gives a new perspective and talk about strategic goals for the upcoming year ahead.
6. How long have you been doing this?
I started in 1991.
7. Has it been of any benefit? If yes, tell us a brief story about how it has helped.
Huge benefit- I started this as a lark- Somehow I got sucked into a seminar Mark Victor Hansen
was doing. He was really entertaining and suggested doing exactly what you listed.
I thought 'What the hell'. I remember like it was yesterday I was making $32k a year and barely making it.
I said Ok I want to make 50k. The company I was working for was having hard times and massive layoffs
so there was no way I was going to get that kind of increase from my job. Out of the blue I got a call -
I was recommended and refferred by one of the employees I had supported and had moved to a new company.
The job was for an IT manager position- I was not a manager at the time and fairly new to my career.
I got the job - and I got my 50k. Ok- That's fine anecdotal maybe.
Literally this was months after that seminar. So I thuught hmmm-- That worked pretty well I want 65k.
I went through this exact process with my new job- Strategic goals - communicated to management and
this was a startup company btw. Within the next 6 months I got a raise - a bonus and stock options. Blew oast that goal.
Around this time in my career I met Dr Bruce Nelson ( author of RPC spec) and he became a mentor for
me which was pretty awesome. Next thing I know the film crew is out and I am on CNBC as an expert on client
server technology. What this is crazy?
Following year I thought why not go for 100k. Another large raise- another round of stock options.
Turns out there was a small company named Corning interested in purchasing our little company.
You can see where this is going.. I made my goal and figured how long can this continue?
Well it did- Corning decided this business was not for them and they sold off their share to our
competition at the time. We were once again a startup. After a brutal re-org - New management
we started all over again. At the height before the tech bubble my new stock options were maturing
every month worth over 10k /month. Those were the days! 1 very small change made this huge difference in my life.
8. Do you use a coach of any kind for this part of your professional life?
If yes, who are they and was it/is it worth it?
Part of my learning to trade project plan had goals but the goals did not take into account what I didn't know
and mental mistakes- and I was making the same mistakes over and over. Finally I hired a shrink
It was expensive but worth every penny.
9 Do you want a coach but cant find one/cant afford one?
I have a friend/ coach and we review progress bi-weekly now. It has been a huge benefit.
Kind of a mastermind relationship.
10. What if anything are you going to do different with regards to your year end review
and forward planning process?
I feel I am just starting my trading career. I am a bit behind my original schedule but in this case I didn't
know what I didn't know. My goal this year is to increase contract size 10x and to give a significant portion
of profit to a local cancer clinic.
Example of one of my favorite mentors.
My boss had what looked like an alter in his kitchen- a fancy tall stand next to the serving bar.
On this stand was a dictionary. Each day he would open a random page select a word and use and learn it.
Reminding him to do the same thing for the day- Learn something new- Improve something - get a new customer etc.
No surprise he was CEO and something that stuck with me.
At the moment, having just turned 55, I am working on a five-year plan. Where do I want to be when I reach 60? Kevin Kelly (or somebody) once said that nothing worthwhile can be accomplished in less than 5 years. This has more or less proven true for me. One year is too short.
). 
