The Weekend Note - The Reluctant Trader

This is a reprint of an article written and published by me on February 8, 2008. No changes have been made except the addition of music. Anni

THE RELUCTANT TRADER


Ok so you may think this is about you. Don't you? A familiar tune? Surprise! It's about all of us. We all have days when we are reluctant. Everything shows up just fine all systems go yet we hold back. What's happening? What stops us from entering a trade?

I find that for me it's when I am not "upbeat"; my mood is lacking a certain "oomph". A positive note, figuratively and literally. It's when I don't listen to music, it's when I am too much into myself and listening to the old tapes; the ones inside my head. You know the ones, those negative critics we all have inside of us. Don't deny it you do too.

So what brings out the critic, that negative soul which loves to bring us down from a cloud! Is it a bad memory, is it the last bad trade, is it the news? Or is it something so ancient that we cannot quite find its origins; so familiar it becomes a security blanket of sort, a comfortable place of being because after all, if we are convinced that what we'll do will have a negative result, it's best to do nothing. So NOT entering a trade becomes positive or the right thing to do and that's where we get stuck and where the battle is fought.

Like with a Chinese puzzle the more we battle the more we get stuck. The battle so strong that it wears one out as well as wears one down. Negative thoughts build up fear which is a powerful force; so strong that many get paralyzed in it's grip and our critic uses fear well because it uses past mistakes to prove it's point. It becomes extraordinarily hard to find a positive note and if one is presented, it has to be proven inconsequential because when a position is taken, it has to be defended.

That is until I realize that I'm too busy fighting battle instead of thinking how wonderful it is that I have such a critic inside which looks out for my safety. My negative tapes stop playing real quickly when I stop the battle and acknowledge their validity in my life. I don't know about your critic but mine likes that compliment and feeling that it has accomplished its job, fades away letting me go on with living. It's because it's not the battle but life's flow which we seek, so acceptance of ourselves brings us back to the present where action can take place.

What happens after is in itself extraordinary. I notice sunshine, blue skies, and all of a sudden recognize familiar patterns on charts that have proven positive before and almost without effort, the trained eye hand coordination moves in for the kill. Rhythm back, what else is there to do but dance? So, I turn on the music.

©AnniV Originally Published on 2/6/2008



Happy Trading, Living and Dancing
Anni


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