December 2025

What Gets Measured Gets Managed

Back in this post, I wrote about some of my daily rituals. Well, wouldn’t you know it, I’ve tacked on a few more things since that post, and one of them is journaling. Like the other things I listed, I’ve journaled for a while and can clearly see the benefits from it, but can be inconsistent, so I made it a daily must-do.

I like looking back and seeing how different my life was, even just a short time ago. It can remind me that I’ve gotten out of impossible situations or have freed myself from negative thoughts or emotions countless times before. I only recall it now because I chose to write it down in an attempt to work it out in the past.

Our perspective changes as we go through new and different experiences. The way out of the wilderness seems so obvious in hindsight. But, this can be difficult to realize if you’re not keeping track of where you’ve been along the way.

I’ve really grown to appreciate journaling daily these past 3 months. If you know me personally, you know that my short-term memory is not the greatest, so it’s been a relaxing and handy exercise to go back through my day and evaluate it. I will say, my gratitude has increased exponentially since I started. Taking a moment to recognize how neat and entertaining life is reminds me that there is really a lot to be grateful for. My awareness and appreciation of some of the minor details and interactions in my day to day life has also improved.

In a similar vein, I’ve thought of how my trading has changed as we head into a new year. Having a record of my trades and run-on sentences serve as a reminder of how far I’ve come and helps me learn from my past mistakes.

There was a time where I was consuming a lot of information in the realm of finance. When I first discover something new and intriguing, I tend to dive in head first and become a little obsessed until I have a good understanding of it. I then continue doing the thing but with the burner turned down a little, bringing things to a steady simmer.

So I can see times where I over-traded simply because I was thinking about trading too much. The podcasts I listened to, the books I read, and the TV I watched all soon shared the same common theme. Sometimes I would find myself thinking about stocks while doing my yoga routine or meditating, making me aware that I was becoming a little unbalanced and needed to make some adjustments.

People often say, “money is the root of all evil”, but that’s not the whole quote.

“The love of money is the root of all evil.”

I’ve done a lot of soul searching on whether I wanted to continue this blog for another year. Honestly, this whole stock market and writing on a website thing is pretty out of character for me. I only make it look easy.

But, I simply cannot deny that I have become a better trader by openly journaling my thoughts, goals, and process as well as my ups and downs throughout the year. There’s magical power behind saying what you’re going to do and then following through on it. When you keep at it the Universe seems to take what you say and what you want a little more seriously.

This whole project has helped me continually refine my system, and the reminder that I must stand in judgement in front of you each passing month has kept me honest and accountable.

And, though, I wrestle constantly with writing and this site and all the silly things that go into it, I know that these little challenges can really help us thrive when we make the choice, each and every time, to push through them. I also sincerely hope, in the process, that I’m able to save you some trouble and maybe get your gears turning a little.

If you don’t take a moment to reflect, circumstances will force you to reflect.

Roll Back Prices

How about one last little lesson to close out the year?

There’s another really good reason to sell options that I haven’t really discussed and I want to take a minute to go over that with you if you’ve got a sec. By selling options on stocks you own or want to own, you are effectively lowering your cost basis each time.

This here just shows me how my cost basis decreases as I continue to sell options on a stock. In the picture of the tracker above, starting at the bottom, you can see I sold a Cash Secured Put on HOOD at the $134 strike and received $570 in premium for doing it. The stock’s price was below $134 when the option expired so I was assigned and forced to buy 100 shares for a grand total of $13,400.

But, because of the $570 I received in premium for selling the Cash Secured Put option, that actually drops my initial cost to $128.30 per share, a total of $12,830 vs the original $13,400.

$13,400 (100 shares) – $570 (Premium Received) = $12,830 (Cost Basis)

As the stock price recovered, I began selling Covered Calls against those 100 shares. Each time I have avoided assignment, keeping the shares and most of the premium.

You can see that, in total, I’ve collected $1,105 so far from those Covered Call premiums. Doing so has dropped my cost from $134 a share to $117.25 a share. You could essentially do this until your cost basis is $0 if you kept at it.

You’ll also notice in the picture that I was able to lower my strike prices down on my Covered Calls as my average cost lowered. I started by selling calls at the $134 strike (the price I was originally assigned the shares) and I’m now selling at the $120 strike. This allows me to bring in more premium as I’m selling closer to where the stock is currently trading.

Lastly, you’ll see that I also keep selling Cash Secured Puts on HOOD at the same time as I’m selling Covered Calls to bring in even more money. This allows me to simultaneously capture premium on both sides of the stock’s price action.

By using the techniques and indicators I laid out in this post with the wisdom of deltas that spilled forth from me in this post, I’m able to simply use probabilities to make money by selling options in the price ranges that the stock is less likely to reach.

This is another example of my weird little analogy of how these stocks can act like little businesses for you. In just over a month I’ve already made $1,105 from selling Covered Calls on a stock I own and that’s money that I could just pull out and do whatever with, or leave in the account to invest and compound.

You’ll probably see me use this picture several times on here. I made it, I think it looks cool, and I think it’s a nice visual representation of what I’m doing here.

Sell Cash Secured Puts until you’re assigned and have to buy 100 shares. Then you sell Covered Calls until the shares are called away. Collect premium at every stage. Rinse and Repeat.

Monthly & Yearly Roundup

In December I made $1,645.

And I’m very pleased to report my total earnings of $23,857 in the year of our Lord 2025. I did not start out with any sort of “I wanna make X amount this year” goals, to me that’s dangerous as it could lead to forced trades. But, if you would’ve asked me to guess at the beginning of the year what my grand total would be, my number would’ve been well below that.

Needless to say I’m feeling optimistic for next year, regardless of market conditions.

Here are the trades .

Here’s a table of my monthly performance.

Well, that’s a wrap for 2025.

Shout out to all my readers! I’m genuinely shocked by how many people look at this thing. It wouldn’t be as fun and would be way more sad without you here. I also owe Becky a huge thank you. She’s always there to let me ramble and flesh things out for as long as I need to on whatever topic I’m currently obsessed with. I couldn’t ask for a more supportive partner and she’s a constant inspiration.

See ya next year!
Chris

_{If you’d like to give trading on Robinhood a try you can click my referral link HERE and we’ll both get some free stock.}