The common view in trading psychology is that we can work on ourselves and this will help us better cope with the ups and downs and risks and rewards of the markets. It's certainly true: as I describe in The Daily Trading Coach, there are many techniques backed by research in psychology that provide tools for dealing with stress, uncertainty, overconfidence, and negativity.
A complementary, but underappreciated, perspective is that by working on our trading, we end up developing our strengths and building our ability to live a purposeful and meaningful life. In fact, the way we operate our trading helps shape our ability to achieve our life goals. For example, by cultivating our creativity as traders – and training ourselves to recognize opportunities that others typically miss – we become more creative in directing our lives, from our relationships to our careers.
This raises the important question; What is the purpose of your trading? How can our trading provide us with a lifetime of profit/loss and not just financial rewards? The short answer to this question is that successful trading, like a good gym, pushes us to develop strengths that we are not currently taking advantage of. Every day and every week in trading challenges us to expand and build our identity.
Monday's webinar was packed. I'll probably pick up another one in the not too distant future. For those who were unable to attend the webinar, the following TraderFeed post will summarize the key points of the session, as well as the topics raised in the discussion. Thanks for your interest!
Brett
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