Why am I writing this post?

I only recently started this blog. Although I was expecting the “setup phase” to be a small project in itself, I feel that I put more effort into the blog than actually developing/building an automated trading system.
Hold on! Surely it was supposed to be the other way around?!
For some reason my top preoccupation at the moment is the blog – and I neglect the bigger picture – which the blog is part of but not all of it.

So, this post is my way to trick myself: working on a blog post which forces me to step back, re-affirm and focus on my goals for the blog. I’ll also be writing a follow-up post on my work stack and the topics you can expect to see coming on the Au.Tra.Sy blog.

Reason 1: Structure

Developing automated trading systems on your own is like running a “one man’s band”: you have to be project manager, developer, tester, researcher etc. And I find it quite challenging to keep the “big picture” in checks while working on lower-level developments. Keeping this blog should help me to add some “structure” to the overall project.

Reason 2: Community

Working on your own can make you feel isolated – whereas I am keen to share my passion with like-minded people. Hopefully this blog will help me find and engage with such people (so if you’re reading, feel free to add your comment – I really appreciate them!), make new connections and collaborations.

Reason 3: Motivation

I do not think I am an exception by saying that I work better with external pressures and deadlines. I try to link my blog posts with my reasearch/development work; and the fact to have the Au.Tra.Sy blog published publicly and on a regular basis gives me a timeline to adhere to as well as an expectation from you, dear readers. This adds to the drive pushing me to work harder on the project.

Reason 4: Web “success”

I am aware that this reason might actually mis-serve me. For some reason, I have this ambition to build a succesful website. I would say this is probably not the best reason (vanity, maybe?) – although one coud argue that to achieve some of the goals highlighted above, success of this blog might be a “stepping stone”. I will try to keep this goal as a secondary objective, which, should it happen, will do so naturally.

So here you (and I) have it: a clarification on what drives me to write to you regularly. To complete this “re-focus”, I will go over my current automated trading projects, see how they fit the global picture and how I should take each of them further. Check it in the next post.