Work, Certs & Stock

Macallik86

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In an April 2012 email I said:
Put in a good word for me and let em know that I am amazing when I am paid properly

That was me, close to a decade ago. I was a disgruntled $11/hr temp worker desperate for a new job. Since then, I've become salaried, had a few promotions and I'm still getting paid to WFH during covid. Sounds great right? However...

...Even with my professional success (or perhaps because of it) I've gotten used to "keep my head down and make it to the weekend" mode for a few years now. I'm not close to six figures, but I'm making enough to get by & have a decent social life. That made it easy to fall into a routine professionally, with holiday parties as the only memorable measure of each passing season.

It's not that I hate my job... I just kinda fell into it and, over time, I've stopped trying to go beyond the bare minimum. It has become the first position in my life where I feel like I'm 'average' at my job. I think that I'm burnt out but also, if I'm honest with myself, I have developed some not-so-great habits and could improve on my fundamentals. So where do I go from here?

The dream is to trade the stock market for a living but I don't have the success/money to go all in. I am WFH thanks to Covid though, so I want to give it a half-assed shot at the least. I will cover the markets occasionally in here, but the odds are stacked against me and so the majority of this thread will be focusing on my Plan B (Achieving certs, improving my fundamentals and/or Building a Web Portfolio).

So this thread is for yall to keep me honest, for me set some targets, and for me to share my wins as well as my L's. Hopefully in the long run, this thread can help others. It wouldn't hurt if I end up making six figures & feel more fulfilled at work either.
 

mannyrs13

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I'm in the same boat you are except no work and no certs, hopefully by this summer tho. I wish I can just live off the stock market and crypto. shyt been crazy lately with the economy so hopefully something hits.
 

Macallik86

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Between A Rock and a (not so) Hard Place

My pre-Covid plan was to quit on 4/1. I gave notice and everything but backtracked/rescinded my notice due to the economy. I'm lucky things worked out that way but also, being employed this far into 2020 wasn't part of the gameplan.

Since mid March, I had been coasting in WFH-mode up until last week. During my 1-on-1 with my boss, I got asked point blank:
So... Have you reconsidered sticking around long term?
I fumbled through some words & mentioned how the WFH routine is tempting me to stay, but overall I was noncommittal and my boss changed topics. With that said, the company has already hired my replacement (who I train daily for an hour and a half) so feel like I need to make a decision soon.

I don't want to get roped back into the job but on the flipside, my company is younger and progressive, so I can see mandatory WFH through the rest of the summer, with at least partial WFH capabilities becoming a permanent fixture, which would be great if I am taking on the stock market.

Here are the options as I see them:

Option 1: Tell them I don't see my long term future there & to let me go as soon as they're ready
Cons: I will be losing out on guaranteed money when the world is, for all intents and purposes, still in the middle of a pandemic. Also, I won't be eligible for unemployment since I quit.
Pros: No one feels like they were led along and I can still get references for future job prospects. Currently, I carve out about 15 hours during the week/weekend for studying but I can triple my progress if I didn't work full-time.

Option 2: Give them (another) two months notice.
Cons: Becoming unemployed in the dead of the summer will make it hella hard to focus.
Pros: I can stack more bread. Also, AFAIK, they are still paying out June bonuses if I'm still employed at the time. It's usually about 5% of my salary so it would be a nice cushion to go along with my last paycheck.

Option 3: Work through September
Cons: I may feel like I'm kicking the can down the road in terms of diving head first into personal and professional growth.
Pros: Summer hours start after Memorial Day so I would be making the same $$$ weekly but working 10% less. In addition to steady money, the longer I stay employed, the lower the chances that the job market will (still) be stacked in the employer's favor when I begin my job search.

Option 4: Stay indefinitely
Cons: I feel like I need a break from the 9-5 life for at least a month or two to recalibrate and refocus and it won't happen under this plan.
Pros: Job security is king. Also, my department is looking to pivot heavily into Power BI, so I could move in that direction if I want a change of pace and a new challenge educationally.

There are 1-2 options that I'm strongly leaning towards but if yall have any opinions, feel free to drop a line on how you see it.
 

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How much money you have saved? Do you own a house and have bills? Quitting right now without a job lined up is a poor decision. No reason you couldn't work on your plan B while you work from home.
 

Macallik86

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I'm in the same boat you are except no work and no certs, hopefully by this summer tho. I wish I can just live off the stock market and crypto. shyt been crazy lately with the economy so hopefully something hits.
Good luck man! I remember when I was really deep into trading and the potential it offered, I started hating weekends because the markets weren't open. I'm slowly viewing more charts on a daily basis but I'm trying to take a more balanced approach this time around.

On the other hand though, if you are going to be addicted to something, it might as well be something you can make money off :yeshrug:

How much money you have saved? Do you own a house and have bills? Quitting right now without a job lined up is a poor decision. No reason you couldn't work on your plan B while you work from home.
I have lived below my means with low fixed costs for a minute so I can afford to take an extended break to recharge and plan my next moves in life. I recognize that this is not the norm. Also though, I haven't completely dismissed the idea of continuing my full-time job either btw.
 
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Macallik86

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Weekly Review
If you want to improve something, measure it.
When Covid first hit and I began working from home, I was nervous that I would just bullshyt at the crib and end up unemployed lol. I searched my local library for time management eBooks and stumbling across The Pomodoro Technique. Not finna bore yall with a book review, but it is a good read and I recommend it. The main takeaway is: Work for 25 minutes uninterrupted + take a 5 minute break to check your phone, fukk around, etc. Once you repeat that 4x in a row, you earn a 15-30 minute break. Continue as needed.

I started using this technique and initially I tracked my progress by hand in a notepad, then I moved to Google Sheets. Lately, I found the easiest way to capture my tasks is using the Toggl Desktop app or their Chrome extension. I get easy to understand stats to review my productivity. I will review each category in detail.
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Analytics

Since I was promoted into my current job, I never really knew the going rate, the mandatory skillsets or the experience desired by other employers. Last week, I used a job website to gather some info and it wasn't as concerning as I thought it would be. Out of the ~15 resumes that I looked at, very few ads references any type of certifications. The majority of employers are looking for a combination of SQL skills, Excel skills, Tableau skills or a dash of Python. I plan on expanding my SQL/Excel skills so it is good to see that it's valued. Python is a no-go until I conquer JavaScript and I don't plan on learning Tableau until I've conquered Power BI, but at least I know early on that Tableau appears to be dominating the profession currently.

I also spent time digging into which analytics book I should read to build on my fundamentals. Luckily, after researching the interwebs, two books I already own (but never found time to read) stand out as recommended reading. The first option is Data Science for Business: What You Need to Know about Data Mining and Data-Analytic Thinking and the second option is Business and Competitive Analysis: Effective Application of New and Classic Methods. I am going to spend some more time and figure out which one to read.

Coding
I finished Section 10 of The Modern JavaScript Bootcamp Course on Udemy. My previous education on Javascript was based on older courses, so now I finally understand arrow function expressions. I also learned more about built-in array methods such as reduce( ), map( ) & find( ).

Trading
I reviewed & watched stock charts daily with the intention of entering a position. These are things I haven't done in over a year. I actually set orders for 1-2 positions but they didn't get filled due to poor price action at the open. I also worked on cleaning up my trading strategy so that it is easier to follow personally.

I still need to create some concrete rules around when to reduce risk, when to exit a stalling position, etc. A while ago, I created a tracker that helps me make decisions around trades. It is more complicated than it needs to be and so, now that I know a little JavaScript, I might try and code a macro in the workbook.

General
This section is for things that span multiple areas I'd like to develop. I finished a Udemy Course that went into detail on studying efficiently. I should be able to leverage this course to study more efficiently for Analytics, Trading and Coding.

A task I complete daily is reviewing what I have learned using the flashcards from the app Anki. Yesterday, I added some new flashcards for the first time in a while. Here are my stats for the cards I reviewed last week:
HtyHH0tqIAMLCSseUV29npU_NXTKgFTHH_qDJZK7Bfqdp5WehaacevRH-t0iCTtqa_C-zLO6g1FdI8kcKRa52fZ-B7MmPUn0y2p8sjcUVQxReOiOHYrhKKavvP7BLn8SE9EZkFUxQ3xPSLZnrjSFUJdMRjtJ3Q8KCDayLKt13A2peWWXaghjozaH4Je036j1VcRbqwQRpyks6CBC6cx9wGalQ5bet3pvrk6G4J0MniLiDCqA93h9R60MMGeJDvk_yyqXpX8xrvceg-_fl3HcMaZnkF_DU2YzJoiO6ndWlnD8xxZOx6nnRtKV2r7Qjlr0O6Leop6x3xE_8zSv90ESH8Qq9kkMCk40Nt2Be0gUkeeAE-pZMTILMlZJjXUN5zZHO_Kc8Y1J124wx78eSpd0DwL9ZaH1vbzjswsOefhuO_TiDs2GfHjfcyR6IYGFya-qwdSflTDdlrsu7kxGLJ2359KRtV_-NN0k4-Mi3F0x_bcZ2kPeIE9GtIq63WO1FD9Ez-waGVtt7SoLZ62loibQOUSPBESz0_FdhQb4FyMD05GbIUsnmx6nHc4xLhBOs29ee-msChVanDx0kiIMbKtUoEndaPypNXNBLXprDzEsfuXiq11gn2OCJOQJgdxEljXf9rzlNGHTtqhwMqyAmjkyj6NH_c-GKj9NJlS3bLY3BePvmfiuCSf6CCgaFrBzhg=w763-h1080-no

Overall
Comcast had a week of free cable last week & so I fell off a little on the studying in the beginning of the week (I did managed to catch up on Insecure and finish Westworld fwiw). This journal is paying dividends already because I'm already tracking my data more closely. Moving forward, I want to study a minimum of 15 hours per week.

Another benefit to the journal is that I led me to change course completely. Previously, for the last month and a half, I spent most of my time learning to Code, with Analytics & Trading taking a back seat. Writing in this journal helped me realize that trading deserves to be a higher priority and it gets more hours per week now. (I should probably prioritize Analytics over Programming admittedly.)

Goals for the week of 5/18 - 5/24
  • Determine which book on an Analytical Book & finish introduction chapter
    • Optimize your ability to turn highlighted notes into flashcards using PolarBookshelf App.
    • More time reviewing Analytics than learning JavaScript
  • Continue to look for opportunity in the stock markets
  • Finish Section 11 of JavaScript Course
  • Flesh out contingency plans for when a position goes higher/lower/sideways.
 

Macallik86

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Review of 'The Complete Docker Bootcamp for Web Developers (2020)'

Reason For Taking Course
So in order to avoid burn out, I carve out time for things that I find interesting but may not tie directly into my professional path. This course was one of those things.

A month or two ago, I grabbed the course for free (and shared it in the Udemy thread). Most of the time, the free (and paid, lbvs) courses I get from Udemy end up gathering dust in my backlog, but with Docker, it had a buzz to it. I think the straw that broke the camel's back was someone, I think in the in the IT Certs thread, mention that they were taking a different Docker course. (Sidebar: I watched a few of the intro videos for that course and it was definitely a higher quality than my course but it was concentrated towards C+ or another language I'm not interested in.)

My Takeaways
I finished the course two weeks ago and I'm still brand new to Docker, but I'll try to break down what I learned. A package (aka software) in Linux called LXC was created in 2008. LXC is short for Linux Container and it basically allows you to run software virtually (aka in a container) on your computer. Docker was created later on, and originally used LXC in its source code, but over time they developed their own in-house solution and leveraged the cloud to become LXC on steroids.

But wait, let's take a step back. You might be thinking, "What is the point of virtual software environment?". Basically, you can create an environment and share it without having to worry about configuration issues like the other person using a different operating system or downloading a newer/older versions of software you used.

Docker allows you to specify what packages (and what version of the packages) are needed, and when someone loads a Docker file, Docker automatically downloads the necessary packages. You can also configure the settings further, spelling out things like seed data for a database, login credentials to access data from a MySQL instance, etc.

With Docker, the file that holds your required packages/settings/rules for your environment is called an image. An image is just a container that hasn't been loaded. So you can work in a container for a few hours, upload it to the cloud as an image, and then someone on the other side of the globe can load that image, and pick up where you left off in the container.

Another benefit that wasn't touched on too much is that virtual environments are the developer's equivalent of a burner phone... you can create and completely and trash a virtual environment in seconds. None of this will affect your current environment unless you explicitly give docker permission to interact with your local environment.

For example, whether you are unsure about a program having a virus, you only plan on using a program once, or you just want to save space; you can open up software in a Docker container and delete the entire container when you're done. It is kind like Incognito Window except instead of being just for Chrome, it is for your entire desktop.

One interesting thing was that I was using LXC (the software Docker was originally based off of) without even realizing it. Chromebooks by default can run Linux apps nowadays and this is solely because they leverage LXC to create a virtual container for each Linux app that is launched. (If interested, there is more info here)

Overall Impression
The course taught me how to use Docker to do things like mount existing data into the virtual environment, allow data from the virtual environment to persist outside of the virtual environment, open ports/configure virtual PHP servers, pass data through different virtual containers, etc. The instructor had great slides and covered multiple use-case scenarios. I can see it being a beast when I get more involved in back-end coding.

Currently though, with Javascript I'm getting by with a code editor & Chrome DevTools (Ctrl+Shift+J). Also, because I'm working solo dolo, I don't have a need Docker to share my environment with anyone either. The course is good if you do a lot of back-end stuff already and want an overview of capabilities. It is heavy on the back-end use-cases fyi. I took notes and will reference them to lock in the knowledge over time.

Docker did encourage me to join the Window's Insider program so that I could run Linux on Windows and test out Docker (via WSL2 which is scheduled to be released any day now). It was a good side-project as it took me a few hours of trial and error to get Docker up and running since I don't have Windows Pro, and, Docker via WSL2 requires a combination of docker in Linux and the Windows Docker app.

I do think that Docker is the wave though. I think in the future, it may be one of the first things that programmers learn, since teachers can standardize everyone's local environment via Docker a circumvent the OS/version conflicts that students usually encounter.
 

Jimmy from Linkedin

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I do think that Docker is the wave though
I used this to build an audiogram last week for my podcast and i was blown away by the tech.
One thing that is kinda killing me is that I don't know how to save the changes I've locally made into the docker image that i've hosted on my github but I feel that is a pretty noob thing that I wouldnt get because I was using tutorials and don't yet fully understand the tech. I will be working on that later in 2020 though.
 

Macallik86

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I used this to build an audiogram last week for my podcast and i was blown away by the tech.
One thing that is kinda killing me is that I don't know how to save the changes I've locally made into the docker image that i've hosted on my github but I feel that is a pretty noob thing that I wouldnt get because I was using tutorials and don't yet fully understand the tech. I will be working on that later in 2020 though.
I looked into my notes and I thiiiink you might be able to accomplish your goal by mounting a volume. I'm still at noob status too so don't quote me lol. Here is a screenshot of some notes I took from the course:

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Macallik86

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Weekly Review

Crushed it this week.

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Last Week's Goals
  • Determine which book on an Analytical Book & finish introduction chapter
    • Optimize your ability to turn highlighted notes into flashcards using PolarBookshelf App.
    • More time reviewing Analytics than learning JavaScript
  • Continue to look for opportunity in the stock markets
  • Finish Section 11 of JavaScript Course
  • Flesh out contingency plans for a stock position going higher/lower/sideways. Didn't quite finish


Trading
Placed 4-5 trades last week. Lost money but it felt good to have some skin in the game. The first half of my week was dominated by watching the markets. I was waking up 30 minutes earlier to size up current/new positions and staying up later to watch stock charts. It was throwing off my morning routine...

The stock market is so addictive because the payoff is immediate. Whether you win/lose money, there is a desire to do some research to make money the next day... It becomes a cycle. There is no test to take to get certified. The downside is if you're trash, there's no one to tell you to take several seats. You just end up broke.


Programming
Tackled more Javascript this week. I learned about Rest, Spread and Array Destructuring. Nothing ground-breaking but it always feels good to complete an entire section.

Analytics

To start the week, I had narrowed it down to two books to read. Figuring out which one to start ended up being easier than expected.

Both had good reviews on Amazon but the Data Science book had 20x more reviews so I went with what everyone else went with :yeshrug:. The Data Science book is high-level connecting the dots while the second book is more in-depth on individual strategies so it works out nicely.

It's been a while since I read educationally but I managed to knock out the introduction and two chapters. To be more efficient, I started using the suggestions from this YouTube video (TL;DW: he suggest skimming through the chapter, then reading the chapter's conclusions, then bolded text in the chapter, then read the entire chapter).

As you can tell by my spoiler stats above, it is taking me forever to read a single chapter. I caught myself getting irritated and rushing once or twice and had to slow my ass down.

I feel like I grasp the concepts better than normal already. I learned about the goals of data science, supervised vs unsupervised methods, the basics of classification, regression, co-occurence grouping, profiling, etc. The book has a semi-conversational tone but it is still dense with information so I'm glad I have the flashcards to help me out. I already have 80 cards after 2 chapters :picard:

General Development
I learned how to customize the font + background in my Linux terminal and I updated the background image for the flashcard app (Anki) on my tablet. Small wins, but tiny personalizations can go a long way to making repetitive tasks feel less like a chore.

One negative thing that happened is I dragged my feet on converting some study notes into flashcards for a few days. When I finally got around to it on Saturday, it took so long that I mentally checked out for the rest of the day. I need a plan in place to avoid that from happening in the future.

i8j-5mASHERQ4R76GZ15aYjcZYFvCtE3Cf4jEBliWxlzn0HKhzoZDQ1CS5wLQe137gmuoQe8aKoAcC-EyW6ljCNeSIfrf9OakRUlZvRi0cV_sJO0GZ3I1Ua_LUvKscUhw2ua__LV7Rw_La1AjFn-5SqvaTATVR-wxqqnZBoK5MqGDBFgH9SjkiRsSzvFLWSVrLSaf5XrbXR-3UXMjNbUaOFMTPZcV8SmlpCqV8K-_0RLoXlZJwNJRb443NiwUwL_mYE5OR7cP-T-9OQCUBDM6dpeN5oQJA9ln9_6v4ZkkfyWWfPayOUeQJURgrm5tjlkytvGY-iVBjT_9IeXpUBUrCAF-a7HH3DHOAL1H-fmo4pNufgDjtgpBr0dOaozH7Wf1xw7HZO0_grZ5xe5aU1kwPdllh58vR16kPlMepQxLWEJE-UoOsboPN8dCRWfuclc4L-JtaPtWzWbtFAqApLSeLUbnEBSq-zqwPFrX1321jODtATcdCkCzgRG9lQAYvrwEQtKj0i9jbSe8IGkK3HpH5e3a52Y5VDR5vXTjYgGj8mMSiMZOjg6AxHb97eFqHdJsDhJRQNaiUX3ecISfNMJ5-WNI4yiT8wWD-qWmAvenu_Pd6soiD5EYU5485mOx_ZhIO_-BHlxVtkR2SQriZ-AsTHm3T5vBDiNvFFWZ1d28orwFMq-BkWZf9MAYY6t-Q=w597-h953-no

Goals for the week of 5/25 - 5/31
  • Average 7.5 hours of sleep for the week
  • Read Two chapters of Data Science book (or finish Chapter 3 and 'quick read' chapter 4)
  • Finish Section 12 of JavaScript Course
  • Take less than 24 hours to turn notes into flashcards
  • If I don't get enough sleep or feel burnt out early on, don't let the day go to shyt. Push through and figure out alternative ways to keep yourself motivated.
 

Macallik86

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How's your progress coming along. I'm going to try out your docker recommendations today
Thanks for checking in. Things fell off over the last two weeks but looking to right the ship this week. Will post a more in-depth update later today.
 

Jimmy from Linkedin

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Thanks for checking in. Things fell off over the last two weeks but looking to right the ship this week. Will post a more in-depth update later today.
i feel you.

I took your advice and did some more research and i figured out how to save my changes.

After i was done doing my thing I committed the container to a new image, saved the image as a tar.gz and that's it! I later checked it to see if it was correct and it worked so then I made a shell script to have everything run easier. Thanks for your help my guide!
 

Macallik86

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Weekly Review
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With everything going on in the city, professional development has been pretty low on the totem pole. With all the turmoil and unrest, I've spent a lot of time following the news, talking to other black people about everything, refreshing social media for raw footage, etc.

Things unfortunately escalated beyond protests two weeks ago and the grocery store I shop at got completely tore up by looters. A few other neighborhood spots got hit by the looting as well but not at the same level. Watching things play out and seeing rioting fukk up black neighborhoods had me stressed smh.

I fell into a routine of surfing the internet aimlessly and doing fukk all at the crib. In spite of doing nothing, I still managed to get less sleep than normal which makes it harder to ignore that voice in my head that says "fukk learning, let's do something fun". In the last two weeks, I sub-consciously consciously searched for an escape and settled on HBO Max, playing Playstation (LA Noire) for the first time in two years, and posting more in TLR.

But yeah, this week I'm looking to get back on track. Here is where I stand:

Trading
In my first week of trading a few weeks back, I lost money, felt demotivated and stopped watching the markets. Of course, right after I checked, the markets went ape-shyt and made a strong move higher which I didn't make any money on. Prior to checking out, I had also found a groove in terms of daily due diligence and I can’t let that progress go to waste.

The fact that the markets keep going higher in spite of riots, record unemployment and an ongoing pandemics feels nonsensical, but my goal isn't to make the markets make sense, it's to make money. Compared to my old trading strategy, I am investing more money and losing less money, so it aint even like that's an issue. My desire to be right is getting in the way and I need to drop my ego.

Analytics
I finished the third chapter of the Data Science book. This was the first chapter where they touched on equations and formulas which ramped up the difficulty level. I had to take a detour and teach myself basics of equations like log lol. Logically, the stuff they have taught so far makes sense though which is a good sign that I'm understanding in spite of the complex theories.

Programming
This went from being the hardest task to the less stressful task. I think that's solely because I've been studying JavaScript for a few months. If I stick with everything else, they all will get easier as well.

My Gig
Upper management confirmed that bonuses will be paid in the next month or two so looks like ya boy is going to be cashing in. They did mention that they are freezing salaries across the board, but from my perspective as someone who technically resigned months ago, every paycheck is bonus $$$ to me.

During my weekly one-on-one, when my boss found out that my grocery store got tore up, she offered to personally groceries shop + deliver my groceries. I declined but it's gestures like that I will miss when i do eventually move on.

On an unrelated note, I copped some ergonomic WFH gear (foot rest/seat cushion). I'm not experiencing any issues, but I might as well set things up right instead of waiting for my body to tell me I fukked up. I'm thinking about asking the company to foot the bill but I'll probably save that for if I cop a chair that is +$100.

Takeaways
I haven't really learned any new material since the George Floyd protests gained momentum nationally, but I have been reviewing my flashcards daily.

I've also spent a lot of time trying to streamline the process of taking highlighted notes from my tablet -> digital flashcards but I've spent way too much time debugging issues. If I can't get this process cleaned up, it makes reading the Analytics book more time-consuming because I have to convert every note into a flashcard. I will figure it out and streamline the process eventually.

When it comes to trading, I need to work on my resiliency and lose my ego. Being right/wrong is not as important as making money. I have some tools at my disposal that I can use to tackle this.

Lastly, I'm thinking on how to build longer-term breaks into my studying process to avoid burn out. I'm thinking about unlimited videogames + TV after all weekly goals are completed, or taking one week off for every three weeks with +15 hours of studying.

6/8 Weekly Goals
  • Quick Read + Concentrated Read of Chapter 4 of Data Science book
  • Complete Section 12 (about 20 minutes left) and Section 13 of JavaScript Course
  • Reread "Trading In the Zone" book notes and revisit chapters if need be to minimize your ego for trading.
  • Average at least 7 hours 15 minutes of sleep this week.
  • 24 hours or less turnaround for flashcards
 

Macallik86

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Weekly Review
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Last Week's Goals
  • Quick Read + Concentrated Read of Chapter 4 of Data Science book
  • Complete Section 12 (about 20 minutes left) and Section 13 of JavaScript Course
  • Reread "Trading In the Zone" book notes and revisit chapters if need be to minimize your ego for trading.
  • Average at least 7 hours 15 minutes of sleep this week.
  • 24 hours or less turnaround for flashcards
I still need more sleep but I did hit my other targets. Below is the breakdown:

Analytics

I completed another chapter in the Data Science for Business book. The section covered Linear & Logistic Regression models as well as Support Vector Machines. I understand those topics a bit better after reading the chapter, but I'm not as comfortable as I want to be so I decided to hit up YouTube and found a really good YouTube channel. Knowledge has always been just a book away, but nowadays, you can use YouTube comments/views to find the most popular educators with some of the best content in the world. It's pretty dope when you think about it.

Another task I randomly started this week was a Udemy course on Data Storytelling & Visualization. At my job, I've learned a lot about querying databases and compiling summary statistics, but I still struggle with presenting my findings. I'm halfway through the course and so far, so good. The content has mostly been best practices and relatively high level, but I'm OK with that. It is a good change of pace after dealing with Regression models & JavaScript functionality.

One thing I've learned through the course is that presenting data isn't a passive endeavor. If I create a visualization, I'm basically the narrator, so if you can't look at a chart and instantly know what is happening, then I need to tell a better story by emphasizing the key takeaway(s) better. It is a simple idea but I've never looked at my reports through that lens before.

Programming

I completed Sections 12 & 13 of the JavaScript course I'm taking. There was about 20 minutes of section 12 that I had to complete (about the keyword 'this'), and Section 13, was on DOM manipulation. I've covered both topics in previous courses, but this time I am creating flashcards to lock the concepts into my memory long-term.

Trading
I didn't complete any trades last week, but I did work on my trading mindset. I reread my notes from Trading In The Zone and they were just what I needed. It reminded me of axioms like the markets are random, every opportunity to trade is unique, and also, that I can only win by focusing on the long term: as long as I have a good trading strategy/risk strategy, probabilities should be on my side.

Revisiting the book reintroduced me to the existential undertones in the book. The author touches on the burden of freedom in the stock market and how a lot of people aren't willing to accept that, so they make up excuse for why they lost money, or blindly follow other peoples' stock advice. In the markets, good & bad things can happen because of, or in spite of, the decisions you make. There is no inherent meaning within the stock market... Everything is fleeting and random and you have to try to make sense of everything on the fly.

One other idea that stuck with me is: Desire + Repetition = Belief. An analogy in the book is a man who had a traumatic experience with a dog when he was little, and is now afraid of dogs. Even if he desires to get over his fear, unless he repeatedly creates opportunities to overcome his fear, his beliefs won't change. This is an example of hermeneutics: we only see what we train ourselves to see through repetition, so we are oblivious to signs that are contrary to our beliefs. Through constant repetition, we can change our negative perception of the external world. This applies to the markets but also life in general.

General
After rereading my notes on the trading book, I realized that I needed to install a consistent way to restructure my thought patterns. Part of my WFH routine included showering with a positive mindset podcast playing in the background, and then taking 10 minutes to meditate before I start my work day. The meditation part has been cool but the podcast has been kinda meh. A lot of the content just didn't apply to what I wanted to personally work on. Last week, I realized that if I want more relevant content, I'm going to have to create it myself.

...No, this isn't the part where I try to get yall to subscribe to my YouTube channel. I downloaded an Affirmation App and I have taken the things that need work, rewrote them in a positive manner, and recorded the messages. Even though I live by myself, I still locked my bathroom door as I made the recordings smh. There is nothing as cringey as hearing your own voice, but quite a few studies say that it is much better than just reading the text, so I did it. Now, I loop the audio every day to drill in some career goals and reduce stress through repetition.

Speaking of reducing stress, I settled on a new process to turn my kindle highlights into flashcards. It still takes a few hours of editing per chapter but I can finally close that chapter indefinitely.

6/15 Weekly Goals
  • Complete Section 14 of Modern JavaScript Course
  • Finish watching Linear Regression playlist from YouTube
  • Read Chapter 5 of Data Science Book
  • Review the stock market for at least 3 separate days this week
  • Average 7 hours of sleep for the week.
 
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