I’m a professional musician (performer and instructor). Music is my passion and foremost craft, and what I build from that will probably always be first compared to trading–something I’ve retained an interest and fascination in, but don’t have an equal passion for.
One of the hardest things to admit to myself over the years was that trading, and all the elements that go into it (research, planning, preparation, etc.) weren’t a deep flowing passion where I aligned myself to the core principles (like I did in music) to have the best habits. Therefore, habit change in it was and is very gradual. The reasons I was interested in it initially (money, personal freedom, ability to travel, etc.) have evolved over time (it’s a paradox that we seek trading to be free, but success in it relies on your ability to constrict your expression of freedom first imho). What I’ve taken most from my experience with it (which, like many, had deep levels of failure for quite some time with isolate pockets of success) is the evolution of my personality. I was born somewhat with a compulsive drive toward risk and situations that put me in a place of exposure–in many ways just having core personality traits that are incompatible with being successful in the markets. The most joy I can take out of the experience is having watched my mentality grow to a point of making not losing my first priority–winning is secondary to that (because not losing is more important than winning). It has made me a better manager of my own personal savings and aligned (through many painful experiences) my thinking closer to a harmonized business sense in other things I approach in life–it’s almost like a personal/spiritual pilgrimage to simply be better.
I suppose the reason I say this is many of us aren’t born with the traits that are required to be great at trading (certainly not me), and it takes a long and persistent inward focus to develop and polish your inner self to become harmonized to success not just in the markets but life itself. Consistent profit (key word consistent, not profit) is very difficult and is a reflection of growing self awareness and self-control–to the degree that I (or another) am not aware or not in control is the degree to which mistakes and losses will walk through the open door of unconscious habits.
So I’m grateful to be at a point where I don’t really lose, although I still have longer to go (I’m a slow learner) to gain flawless emotional control/consistency in engaging the charts. When I first began learning the craft (a few years ago–I was 18 ), I had met a professional trader from Canada online who shared very wise and rare bits of wisdom about both technical knowledge and life that wouldn’t really be found any where else. In many ways I took it for granted and didn’t treat him (or the markets) with appropriate respect–which led to losing money and what could have been an amazing person/friendship (which is more important than money).
Greetings iorek6543 and welcome to the BabyPips.com community! And thank you for sharing your self reflections on how trading has changed you for the better. We hope to hear more of your journey, so please don’t be shy about sharing your experiences with the rest of the community. Good luck and good trading!
[QUOTE=“iorek6543;712994”]Hi there, I’m a professional musician (performer and instructor). Music is my passion and foremost craft, and what I build from that will probably always be first compared to trading–something I’ve retained an interest and fascination in, but don’t have an equal passion for. One of the hardest things to admit to myself over the years was that trading, and all the elements that go into it (research, planning, preparation, etc.) weren’t a deep flowing passion where I aligned myself to the core principles (like I did in music) to have the best habits. Therefore, habit change in it was and is very gradual. The reasons I was interested in it initially (money, personal freedom, ability to travel, etc.) have evolved over time (it’s a paradox that we seek trading to be free, but success in it relies on your ability to constrict your expression of freedom first imho). What I’ve taken most from my experience with it (which, like many, had deep levels of failure for quite some time with isolate pockets of success) is the evolution of my personality. I was born somewhat with a compulsive drive toward risk and situations that put me in a place of exposure–in many ways just having core personality traits that are incompatible with being successful in the markets. The most joy I can take out of the experience is having watched my mentality grow to a point of making not losing my first priority–winning is secondary to that (because not losing is more important than winning). It has made me a better manager of my own personal savings and aligned (through many painful experiences) my thinking closer to a harmonized business sense in other things I approach in life–it’s almost like a personal/spiritual pilgrimage to simply be better. I suppose the reason I say this is many of us aren’t born with the traits that are required to be great at trading (certainly not me), and it takes a long and persistent inward focus to develop and polish your inner self to become harmonized to success not just in the markets but life itself. Consistent profit (key word consistent, not profit) is very difficult and is a reflection of growing self awareness and self-control–to the degree that I (or another) am not aware or not in control is the degree to which mistakes and losses will walk through the open door of unconscious habits. So I’m grateful to be at a point where I don’t really lose, although I still have longer to go (I’m a slow learner) to gain flawless emotional control/consistency in engaging the charts. When I first began learning the craft (a few years ago–I was 18 ), I had met a professional trader from Canada online who shared very wise and rare bits of wisdom about both technical knowledge and life that wouldn’t really be found any where else. In many ways I took it for granted and didn’t treat him (or the markets) with appropriate respect–which led to losing money and what could have been an amazing person/friendship (which is more important than money). May the learning continue. Nice to meet you.[/QUOTE]
Hey,
It sure seems like you’ve made the shift to success based on what you wrote.
This is an ongoing process that not only challenges how we go about trades but actually way more beyond the charts.