Your Evening Routine Grants You a Better Night's Sleep and a Better Tomorrow

Welcome.

Want to have a better day tomorrow?  

Want a better night's sleep tonight?

You need to improve your evening routine.

For a while I found myself struggling to sleep at night.
My mind would race, endless thoughts running into one another, getting in each others way.
It was like they were all struggling to stay afloat in the turbulent sea of my mind.

Luckily, I found the solution.  A proper evening routine.
I sleep much better now, and my days are more productive when I wake the next morning.




Our brains operate, to some extent, like a computer.
They can do only do so many things at once and they can only keep so many things in memory at once.

There is a computer which I have no other option but to use everyday - it is a perfect, terrible example.
I do a lot of work on it, but I have learned that it can't do everything at once.
So, like an Apollo astronaut, I have to close one thing before I can start another, otherwise the whole system runs the risk of crashing.
If your computer is like that one, there isn't enough RAM.
RAM is the stuff that your computer uses to keep things at the ready, for instant use - the stuff it doesn't want to have to take time retrieving later.
For everything else it stores it somewhere buried in the hard drive - with a little look-up address so that it can find it later.

When your computer starts running low on available RAM, everything slows down and performance goes down the tubes.

Our brains are often the same.  We get busy, we finally remember that thing that we've been trying to remember forever.  We have to do this, that, and the other thing.  We have a list that constantly grows in our minds of all the things that we need to do and find, remember and accomplish, stories we just have to tell and pictures to share.  Associations develop that remind us of other things we have to do/tell/share.  It goes on and on.

The more of these things we add into our minds, the more cluttered and busy our minds become trying to remember and keep track of it all.  It is like we are running out of mental RAM.  Trying to go to sleep that way is hard.  Your brain is working hard to remember it all, to keep it there, ready for you to use, because it is/was important to you and you haven't completed the task for which you put that bit of information into your mind's short-term storage.
It takes energy.  It takes willpower.


The solution is simple - we have to get these things out of our minds!


I'm going to suggest later that we write everything down before we go to bed - to create a 'hard copy' that our minds know where to go to get the information when we wake up.
Suddenly, our minds are freed of the responsibility of trying to remember it all.
Ooohh Yesssss!  You can almost feel your brain sighing with joy for that release, can't you?


But just writing things down won't do it all by itself.  This is not a one shot-one kill issue.
Our minds are more complex than that.  So let's advance to greater and deal with the subtleties that will help us get more out of this practice.

First, we should strive, each evening, for the same routine leading up to our sleep.  Going through the same motions, the same activities, in the same way trains our bodies and minds for deep, restful sleep.

I begin my routine after dinner.

Dinner is at 5:30.  This is "electronics off" time.  Outside of extraordinary circumstances, I try to not use electronics after this time.

Then I play with my kids until its time to start getting them ready for bed.
Their bedtime routine begins with us all helping to pick up and put away all the toys that are out.
Next, its bath time, brushing teeth, getting them into pajamas.
Then stories read, prayers said, and off to bed.


As soon as the kids are asleep, I like to do a 5-10 minute whole-house cleanup.
It is amazing what you can accomplish in 5-10 minutes!


Then, I like to get a glass of water or (occasionally) a caffeine-free herbal tea.
Often, I will read for 15 minutes from a good book.
Not a fiction novel usually, although I enjoy those at other times of the day, I find they don't make good 'before bed' reading.  Rather, I like to read books about success, self-improvement, or biographies/autobiographies of great people.
Here is one that I re-read some little part of every. single. day.
The Twelve Universal Laws of Success by Herbert Harris.


Now comes the really good stuff --- "the secret sauce" --- are you ready?

That's my journal.  

A Moleskine in a Saddleback Leather cover.  I absolutely love and whole-heartedly recommend the Moleskine brand of journals.  The quality is excellent.  Quality and beauty are the two main points when it comes to the Saddleback Leather cover for the Moleskine.  It is beautiful and you can tell it will last as long as you live!  It could not be a nicer item.

Before I go to bed each night, I review what happened during the day.  

I do that on the left page in the journal, where the tip of the pen is pointing here:

I'll write about how I felt about the day, what I did or accomplished, a note about people I helped, etc.  It is neat to be able to read back through these at the end of the year and there are a lot of things that you'd have forgotten about had you not written them down, but when you review them, you can remember those interactions and events in detail.  It is often a source of good feelings.

Writing down how your day went also allows your brain to get it out and let it go.  

That is cathartic and helps you sleep better.

On the right page I'll start off with "To Do on (and then I write in the day and date)."

Beneath that I start a little to-do list.

Add everything that comes to mind to your to-do list.

It doesn't matter how mundane it is, how small the action-item...put it down on paper.

Get it out of your mind.

So you can end up with 'minor' things on your to-do list like:

• call Mom
• remind Flora about the hockey game tickets she mentioned
• ask cousin Tony about that strange sound my car is making

Of course, you will have all the important things on there too, like:

• Workout
• Work/Business 
• Get that Anniversary present!

Once you have your to-do list, below it you're going to want to do what I call a "Brain Dump."
A brain dump is basically getting every random thought that swims to the surface of your mind out and on paper.  Don't judge these thoughts, don't select which you write and which you don't, just get them out.  Let your mind be released of all the junk that is taking up space in its 'RAM'.

You may well end up with a stream-of-consciousness kind of mess.  You could end up with anything, really.  Don't judge yourself for any of it.  Don't judge or pre-judge your thoughts as they come up.  Just let them come out and onto the page.  

The first few times you do this, it is very likely that you will end up needing additional space - that's fine.  Use as much paper as you need, turn the page and carry on.  The tree was already cut down to make the next page, so you're not going to save a rainforest by not using the next page in your notebook.  Use it.

Some of the thoughts that come out may not be pretty.  That's fine.  We are all merely human.

You might end up with more things for your to-do list.  That's fine too.  Add them on.

You may well end up with something like:

"

I need to think of a present for my buddy's birthday.  What does he need?  He needs a girlfriend, really.  

Stacy was wearing an interesting outfit today.  

Oh, My, God, Becky

I wonder what Sir Mix A Lot is doing these days

Becky's birthday is coming up, I ought to ask her about gift ideas.

Christmas seems like its far away, but I ought to start saving up for it now.  Its always so expensive

I need more money!

Start a business?  Fight the Starbux addiction! that'll help.

"

It can go on and on sometimes.  

The point is to get it out of your mind and onto paper.  

Then, like a computer, your brain knows where to go to pick up where it left off, or to review things so it can remember to do them at another time.

All these exercises do is free your mind and prepare you for peaceful, restful sleep.  Your brain will finally have the peace it needs to completely let go and not have to worry about remembering to remember something.


Then, I lie down in bed, say a silent prayer, and meditate until I fall asleep.

Keep your journal/to-do list next to your bed.  If you find yourself thinking of something when you should be sleeping, write it down.

Feel free to adapt this, in any way, to your own life.  

Take this concept and make it your own.  

Find a way to make it work for you.

I promise it is worth it.  

I wish you a very good night's sleep.

Advanced Investing - Options - Part 1 - Selling Covered Calls

Welcome.

Here's where investing starts to become a lot more fun.

This is where you start to pad your account with 'extra' money.

When you own 100 shares of a stock, it is called a "round lot."  200 shares would be two round lots.  300 shares, three round lots.

Round lots are really the only amount that professional investors will take a position with.

There's a reason why that is.  

Options.

Options are contracts that trade in the stock market just like regular stocks do.  In fact, if you look at a share price on Google Finance or Yahoo Finance, you'll likely see a little note about the options.

Each option contract controls 100 shares of stock.  

Well, here's a cool thing you can do.

You can apply for permission with your broker to trade options.  This usually entails filling out a questionnaire and reading and understanding some risk disclosure notices.  It's not a big deal.

If you've never traded an option contract before - that's fine.  They'll generally start you out with the level of permission that we're covering right here - Selling Covered Calls.

They'll do that because it is the safest of all the option strategies.

Here's why they'll let a complete novice do this: with a Covered Call, it is hard to lose money.  

Now you're in on the secret.  This is a great tool!

Selling a Covered Call can be thought of like this:

If we own 100 shares of Intel, we can sell a Call against them that will give someone the option to buy them from us at a set price at some point in the future.  We can choose what price we'd be willing to sell them for!  We can choose what date we'd like that contract to expire on!

So, if we bought them at the current price of $29.90, just as you see in the picture above, we can agree to sell them at a set price (I suggest a higher price than what you bought them for) and with that option expiring on a certain date in the future.

So, if, based on the picture above, you spent $2,990 today (May 5, 2016) and bought 100 shares of Intel you could then sell one July $33 Call for about $0.21 per share!  

Since, as we said early on, each contract covers 100 shares, that one contract sold would bring $21 into your investment account, immediately.  You get to keep that $21 no matter what.

Now, up at the top of the table you see "View options by expiration" and then July 15, 2016 is selected in the drop-down box.  

Each option contract expires on a certain date.  Most of the time, those are at the end of the day on the third Friday of the month.  In July 2016, that's the 15th.  Sometimes there are contracts that expire on other Fridays, though, so pay attention to which you select.

The expiration date of the contract determines what will happen to the shares after the market closes on that date.  Here's how it's figured out:

If, on July 15, 2016 Intel closes at $32.99, then nothing happens.  You keep your shares and you, of course, keep the $21 you took in when you sold the contract.  Basically nothing changes.  On the next trading day you're free to sell another Call against those shares and bring in even more money.

If, on July 15, 2016 Intel closes at $33.00 or higher, then your shares get bought by someone else for $33 per share (this is referred to as having shares "called away").  $3,300 will show up in your account and the shares will disappear.

Since you paid $29.90 for them, then got $0.21 per share for selling the Call, your actual price for the shares would be $29.69.  

If your shares were called away at $33 each, you made 11.14% for the two and a half months you owned those shares!  Not bad at all!  Many people would be happy to earn that kind of return in a whole year.

That's it, those are the only two outcomes.  

Either you keep your shares and you're free to sell more Calls against them, bringing in more income upfront, or

your shares get called away and you sell them for a profit.

Easy-Peasy.

Now, of course you can't trade stocks through Google Finance or Yahoo Finance - you have to use your own broker.

Each broker has its own way of doing things, but in my experience, its pretty darned easy to do this.  If you need help your first time, there are usually very helpful people at your broker's support center that you can reach out to for help.  Once you do it a time or two, its easy.

I'll show you how it looks in Interactive Brokers.  Other brokers will be similar.

You just select the Option tab - between Stock and Futures.

Select Sell from the drop-down box

Input the desired number of contracts to trade (remember one contract covers 100 shares!)

Input the ticker symbol (in this case its INTC for Intel).

Select which expiration date.

Select which price.

Select Call, since you're selling a Call.

Input your price - I suggest putting in about what the market is trading them for (within a penny or so) 

Make sure the order type is a "Limit Order" - on Interactive Brokers that is "LMT".

Then you click the Preview Order button

Look everything over carefully to make sure its right...

then click Submit Order.

Done.

Relax.