I spend a lot of time talking to you about all the things you can do to plan a trade, execute the plan, record the experience and review your results. I spend a lot of time writing about the fundamentals that matter to me and my view of the global marketplace. I spend even more time, directly with students, discussing belief systems, patterns of behavior and working oneself into a viable trading system.
I imagine that you do something similar with your work day.
In between all of that stuff, however, there are moments. These moments have a lot more control over your decisions and your habits than you realize.
Imagine that you’re the perfectly disciplined trader. You plan every trade. You flawlessly execute every plan. You learn something from every execution. (Written out like that it seems like it should be SO easy, doesn’t it?!)
Now imagine you doing those 3 things on a good day. You’ve woken up feeling refreshed and positive. You’re seeing beauty and possibility in the world. Your mind is at ease and your spirit is peaceful. In between the plan, execution and learning process you’re unwittingly infusing beauty and possibility into your trading. Even if there is a loss for the day, you’re able to look at it objectively and see it for exactly what it is…one moment in your entire trading career…and you’re able to glean something from it that helps you (even if that is just letting it go because it was well planned and executed after all).
Now imagine doing those 3 things on bad day. You’re tired and irritable. Nothing has gone right. You even feel a little insolent that you have to still be SO freaking disciplined in your trading to get it right. Now those spaces in between the doing are filled with negativity and resentment. At this point, even if you have a winning trade you’ll be feeling like it wasn’t good enough.
How about if you’re feeling doggedly determined (usually in spite of something else going on in your life)? Try on “lazy but trying not to be”. Now extrapolate those attitudes and platitudes out over weeks, months even years. What do you think your trading results are going to look like?
Inevitably they will reflect your underlying Self. It will be very difficult to create success in your trading, or in life, if you’re filling the gaps with garbage. On the other hand, if you fill those gaps with the sublime then you’re likely to see the rewards in every part of the process – not just the outcome.
All of those moments in between our decisions hold something for us. Sadly, most of the time, we’re completely unaware of what we’re infusing into those moments. Those quiet thoughts, concerns and hopes are rattling around inside our addled minds. What we don’t realize is that we have more moments in between our deliberate decisions and actions than we have deliberate decisions and actions.
We could be quietly supporting ourselves in those spaces. We could also be quietly sabotaging ourselves. ….and our trading.
I imagine that you do something similar with your work day.
In between all of that stuff, however, there are moments. These moments have a lot more control over your decisions and your habits than you realize.
Imagine that you’re the perfectly disciplined trader. You plan every trade. You flawlessly execute every plan. You learn something from every execution. (Written out like that it seems like it should be SO easy, doesn’t it?!)
Now imagine you doing those 3 things on a good day. You’ve woken up feeling refreshed and positive. You’re seeing beauty and possibility in the world. Your mind is at ease and your spirit is peaceful. In between the plan, execution and learning process you’re unwittingly infusing beauty and possibility into your trading. Even if there is a loss for the day, you’re able to look at it objectively and see it for exactly what it is…one moment in your entire trading career…and you’re able to glean something from it that helps you (even if that is just letting it go because it was well planned and executed after all).
Now imagine doing those 3 things on bad day. You’re tired and irritable. Nothing has gone right. You even feel a little insolent that you have to still be SO freaking disciplined in your trading to get it right. Now those spaces in between the doing are filled with negativity and resentment. At this point, even if you have a winning trade you’ll be feeling like it wasn’t good enough.
How about if you’re feeling doggedly determined (usually in spite of something else going on in your life)? Try on “lazy but trying not to be”. Now extrapolate those attitudes and platitudes out over weeks, months even years. What do you think your trading results are going to look like?
Inevitably they will reflect your underlying Self. It will be very difficult to create success in your trading, or in life, if you’re filling the gaps with garbage. On the other hand, if you fill those gaps with the sublime then you’re likely to see the rewards in every part of the process – not just the outcome.
All of those moments in between our decisions hold something for us. Sadly, most of the time, we’re completely unaware of what we’re infusing into those moments. Those quiet thoughts, concerns and hopes are rattling around inside our addled minds. What we don’t realize is that we have more moments in between our deliberate decisions and actions than we have deliberate decisions and actions.
We could be quietly supporting ourselves in those spaces. We could also be quietly sabotaging ourselves. ….and our trading.
