I’ve been reading these trading psych books and they sound an awful lot like the various ‘be here now’ philosophies.
"This is it. There is no place else to get to, and there is not some other way of being in the world of trading. This very moment of trading is your life, and the task for you is to start trading each day in all its preciousness, savoring each moment."
Ari Kiev, Trading to Win
"One simply does what is required to reach the goal… The point is to promote the goal by accomplishing it in the present: doing this, doing that, doing this, as it becomes necessary, right here, right now."
Joko Beck, Nothing Special
Does anybody meditate to help their trading? I’m starting to think I should take up meditation!
You should abandon all that crap. Otherwise, my friend, you’re going to end up meeting the “White Rabbit”, and following him down the rabbit hole.
You need to clear your mind of all that pseudo-trading psycho-babble.
A good way to clear your mind is to read [I][B]The Zurich Axioms[/B][/I] (in fact, read it two or three times).
That little book is not only a lively read — it will actually teach you something useful. It’s full of practical, hard-nosed advice on how to understand [B]and use[/B] risk. It will teach you the proper mindset for actually succeeding in a dog-eat-dog, zero-sum, speculative market. Without getting all touchy-feely. And without meditation.
Don´t get into the ring thinking you can box. Forex is for the humble and mentaly strong. It take years to learn the mental and emotional skills requierd amd a lot of pain and frustration in the middle. In forex, if you really wanna make money you have to forget about money itself. You will not understand until you experience it by yourself and after you bloww off two or three accounts. It is not my intention to be mean but is the awful truth, reality bites, the ugly truth, we all been trough it, the one that claims who doesn´t, well that one did not get it trough yet or is a complete liar, fact.
I do sometimes it helps if your severely agitated.
For some it works for some it doesn’t I mean my fx and commodities have two different mind sets and one requires a lot of pre-hard work where I litterally spend a few hrs doing my homework then roll in at 9 stay till 1, free lunch why not, then just put up my orders, walk away.
Where as for my fx im waking up at 1 doing my analysis and waiting and wondering if that supposed judas was the actual judas and not the actual move
So the consensus seems to be that meditation is unnecessary for trading per se. But if you already do it and find it generally helpful, then it’s generally helpful.
I find religion fascinating and in a previous incarnation i studied buddhism. It is amazing how much these trading psych books sound just like books on buddhism. Practically word for word. Word for word, I tell you! I wonder if they consciously plagiarized the ideas or there was some kind of odd mental convergence.
I actually knew Joko for a short while when I was in San Diego. She helped me out when I was in a bad spot. I really like her.
I used to do zazen and I think I’ll take it back up. The Church has ruled that it’s OK to be interested in other spiritual traditions as long as they don’t contradict the basic tenets of Christianity, and zen is on the list, so it’s good to know I won’t be going to hell for it or anything.
Religion and politics are the two most fascinating things people do. I would give the nod to religion but I know not everybody feels that way.
PS
Thanks for the Zurich Axioms. That looks like some really good trading advice.
The Zurich Axioms is a great book, i must read it again soon! It can teach you lots of things, especially to stop fearing losing money, which eventually helps you in your trading as you avoid all fear-induced mistakes, and your eyes stop being closed to completely new approaches. But the book is sometimes ruthless, it might give you the impression that you should try blowing an account in order to conquer fear
If you read it, make sure you enjoy it, look for its hidden truths, and use your brain to filter out any stuff that just cannot apply to your unique life. Not that these things can’t help someone else, but some things might just not be right for you individually.
I also forgot to reply to the original subject. I just wanted to say that meditation can not make you profitable from one day to the next, but where it helps sometimes is when you really need to think about new trading approaches. If you have been doing the same (or similar things) for years and you are not profitable, think about ditching them and imagine completely new trading approaches to explore.
Well, if you decide to do the meditation thing on a quiet and peaceful roof-top somewhere,
watch out for the rotor blades.
Buddhist monks Seigen, Jisho Handa and Fabricio Costa from the Busshinji temple,
meditate on the helipad of Copan building in downtown Sao Paulo February 18, 2011.
REUTERS/Nacho Doce
Meditation is also a practice of concentrated more focus upon a sound, object, visualization, the breath, movement, and attention itself according to increase awareness of the present moment, reduce stress, promote relaxation, and increase personal and spiritual growth.
