Rest Assured
Why Don’t Man City Play Every Day?
"Don't count the day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you sow."—Robert Louis Stevenson.
To perform at their peak physical and mental fitness, the Man City squad need time to recover, rest, and recuperate. While they do train and practice, this often involves studying videos of past games or reviewing data from body-worn trackers. They also have gym sessions targeting specific muscle groups or cardiovascular systems. In addition, they experiment with new tactics and set plays in a controlled environment, preparing for upcoming fixtures. Being the best rested team or player is an advantage.
If they played competitive football every day, they wouldn't have time to develop as players. While they could theoretically fit in development during evenings or free time, they also have personal lives. Quality time with partners, children, family, and friends is important. They also have their hobbies to help them unwind. Kyle Walker has recently got into padel, for example. Bernardo Silva is taking piano lessons. And Phil Foden often shares photographs of himself kneeling by lakes holding enormous ray-finned creatures with flat heads, prominent barbels and long whiskers—but this could just be catfishing.
Although the club might make more money by having the players compete every day, selling more tickets, the quality of the football would significantly drop.
How does this relate to you as a trader?
Just like Manchester City players, you need time to recover, rest, and recharge. It's essential to spend time practicing trades on a simulator or by observing the markets. You can review past trades, whether successful or not, and analyse their metrics. Train your mind by reading books, blogs, and listening to podcasts—not just about strategies, but also about improving your mindset.
Like the players, you need time to develop yourself and, just as importantly, time away from it all. Spend time with friends, family, and loved ones. Have a hobby outside of trading to help you escape the screen. You will place fewer trades, but the quality of those trades will increase.
Today, I didn't trade, and I'm happy with that. Instead, I developed my mindset through reading, practiced a strategy on the simulator, spent time with my family, and plucked the barnacles off my brain with a session at the gym.
Was today unsuccessful? Not at all. I rested, trained, and developed—ready to kick the market off its hinges tomorrow.
