Distraction vs Loneliness: What should you opt for?
Thirty years from now, when you look back at your career, what do you see? If you’re optimistic, you might say profits, but not everyone ends their career as successful traders. But loneliness is something that every trader has in common. And traders are consciously aware of it when they sign up for this career. Just because you know what you sign up for doesn’t mean that it is a godsend gift. The loneliness trading brings into you has its share of menaces. What are they?
Boredom leads to Overtrading
Humans are not descendants of cheetahs. We’re the descendants of monkeys. So our instincts don’t favor wait and hunt. Instead, we are naturally poised to keep us busy. And so when we glare at the charts for hours, we have the itch to press the Buy/Sell button.
Imagine you have someone as a companion during trading hours. Will you be making that extra trade you regret? Chances are slim. You know you want someone but tend to avoid it in the name of distraction. What if that someone is a fellow trader with whom you can discuss the market. It’s not a distraction rather a productive discussion.
Play Devil’s Advocate
Discussion leads to wisdom. And this is the prime reason every democracy has a parliament. Imagine you have a counterpart (like an opposition party) who criticizes every trading decision you make. If you’re a good listener, you might save yourself from an embarrassing loss. Or you might double-check your trading decision, which reinforces confidence in the idea. So it’s a win-win situation. You either avoid a loss or win a trade with conviction.
The tricky part is that you should not have an ego in this process. When you truly respect someone, you are susceptible to pick the tidbits of good in them, which adds value to your system. And there are plenty of places you can go for trader-hunt nowadays: chat rooms, forums, or even the comment section of social media. So, find someone who can genuinely add value to your system.