January. Relaxation. Perspective.

January’a never been much of a busy month for me. The markets are weak, the weather is poor and racing interest is low.

In previous years I’ve filled the gap with snowboarding trips. But as I get older I find it’s harder and harder to get friends to commit to such trips. Time off work, finances and ‘permission from the Mrs’ are amongst the toughest obstacles.

So this year I did something different.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it gave me plenty of time to think. Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in day-to-day life…

Benefits of Relaxation

When I look back to this post in September, I think maybe I was a little confused and worn-out.

Although I don’t like to admit it, others around me (and some of the comments on that post) were probably correct.

Burn-out is possible.

Taking time out to ‘just do nothing’ and relax is a good thing. It forces you to see things differently, whilst being extracted from the noise.

Switching off is something I find incredibly hard. Those close to me have described me as ‘relentless’ or ‘like a dog with a bone’ in the past, and I can’t disagree. I think it’s one of my best qualities as it’s seen me rise through a lot of problems…

But taking a break with only one item on the agenda was an enlightening experience.

Perspective:

I think it’s likely I’ll take a few more of these ‘enforced’ breaks in the near future. I need them to develop further.

It goes against my default non-stop thought process but I’ve learned it’s beneficial. Mainly because, when you do stop, put yourself in a different environment and do nothing, you start to think and see things differently.

Gaining a different perspective on things is extremely important to me. If there’s one thing that betting and trading has taught me, it’s that perspective changes everything. 5 different people can look at one betting market, see the same information, and come to totally different conclusions. Seeing it from all angles is an advantage in itself.

…okay, I couldn’t quite do ‘nothing’ all week. But a cheeky beach-side Q & A only took a few minutes.

If you haven’t seen it, here it is…