Effort & Reward

They say trading is mostly a psychological activity and I believe this to be true. The simplicity of the ideas that do work, the simplicity of the reasoning that leads to profit is very surprising. So if such simple ideas work why then is it so difficult? The difficulty I believe lies in our psychology. Of course there is more I could say on this topic, I am by no means an expert. There is even more I am sure I do not know. There are however, a few things I do know from personal experience or learnt from the mentors I've had along the way and one of them has to do with the relationship with the effort we put into an activity and the feelings of reward and satisfaction we get from that activity.

You need to have a clear conscious answer to the question: Why am I trading? It is such a difficult skill to acquire and mostly its pursued voluntarily, to come out the other side with any degree of competence requires a clear answer to that question. What is it you desire? Money? Status? Is that enough to sustain your effort and attention? It is not enough for me, and i am suspicious of those who believe it is enough for them but I will not push back on those who land on that as their answer. My answer, which reflects my desires and therefore draws on a force that gives me real motivation is that I want a skill or competency that will last for my lifetime. I want independence and freedom. I value these things deeply and desire for myself a life with a particular kind of freedom. Knowing what you want focuses your mind towards a goal, towards some definitive end. The desire will help you persist through the periods where rewards and progress is lacking until you finally take that one perfect trade and you realize, even if just a little bit, it is possible for you to acquire this skill.

Good Trading.