A time for reflection

Wednesday, 13th January 2010 22:57 - by Boredmum

New Year is generally a time for reflection. Reflecting on what have you accomplished in the last year, or even a time to review your failings and have plans or ideas in place for a fresh start as the New Year begins. Sometimes I feel that I haven’t came very far since I began share dealing in terms of profit, but if I break it down and look at how far I’ve come since January 2009, then I have come a huge distance. In terms of profits, I have increased my portfolio to over 300% in the year just gone. In terms of what I’ve accomplished...well, I got my loft conversion done (not quite an extension, but an extra room all the same!). In terms of what I’ve learned, it is a huge amount. I’ve written about the technical side of things, learning about company NAV and looking out for the spread. I’ve talked about the unscrupulous posters who use people for their own gain. If you ask me the most important thing I learned from 2009, it is simply to trust my own judgement. There is a lot to be said for ‘gut instinct’. Follow it when, and if, something doesn’t feel right then get out. Don’t wait for bad news to say ‘I knew something was wrong there’. Don’t be influenced by others. By all means read people’s views and dissect them, but don’t follow the herd. Be true to yourself. I had a trader friend state to me ‘You didn’t pay 17p for GKP?’ It now trades in the 90p range. Someone else said to me ‘MNR, likely to see 10p before there is ever a chance of it seeing 16p’...now trading in the 70p range. I could probably go on all day with examples. So, 2010 will be my year of believing in my own choices and when and if they go wrong, I won’t regret following my instinct. I don’t expect to see anywhere near a 300% increase this year, but if I could achieve 50%, I’d be happy. If I could do 100%, I’d likely pass out. To be fair, as long as I don’t end 2010 with less than I started with, that would be fine. Like many, I remember the losses of 2008. I was lucky to make my money back again. I suspect many others weren’t as fortunate. So, have a bit of time to reflect on where you did well and where you went wrong. Make your choices for 2010; and I wish every one of you the best of luck with those choices.