How does pursuing a balanced life, that’s full of growth and joy sound to you?
The lure and greed of quick bucks can attract people in hordes to the stock markets. And Covid has only added fuel to that fire, worldwide.
Times have been tough in the past two years. Fake stock market gurus and trading coaches abound and lurk at every corner. Screenshots and stories of windfall gains and overnight trading winnings are aplenty. No wonder, it’s so easy to fall for such hooks and try to join the party.
Who doesn’t love the fact that they can trade the markets anytime and from anywhere?
Who doesn’t like the idea of making tons of money, and experiencing financial freedom while firing their boss?
Imagine owning those big fancy cars, massive mansions, and basking in the sun on a pristine beach. Ogling at the bikini babes are the perks. There’s tons of such mental imagery and sub-conscious programming that’s been done so effectively and blatantly.
No wonder people get sucked into the stock markets matrix.
Newbie expectations and thinking are obvious. “I am the lucky one.” “I am so deserving to be rich.”
Big expectations of making spades of jackpot gains, daily.
Sadly, many come to the realization, the hard way, with a real hard knock.
Stock markets are and will always be indifferent and ruthless.
Surviving and being consistently profitable in the markets can be tough and challenging, especially for those who dont have a clear cut trading plan.
The CEO of Zerodha.com, India’s leading discount brokerage recently shared in his tweet;
“Just 1% of active traders make more money than bank fixed deposits over a 3 year period” – Nithin Kamath
Most newbies who come into the markets feel utterly invincible. The first big mistake is jumping directly into the arena of “Day Trading”.
Wow. So much for taking a high dive into the deep end of the cold pool, without even figuring out the basics.
As an active trader who has dabbled in day trading for over 9 years, the above statement strongly resonated with me.
I consciously made a shift from active trading to slow positional trading several years ago. And that turned out to be the most positive change to me, to my personality, my family, and to my account.
What were the biggest positive changes I experienced?
- Better Emotional Control
- Long Term Mindset
- Balanced life
Being slow leads to becoming better in many ways.
Day trading due to its nature needs quick thinking, reflexes, and execution.
In comparison, positional or swing trading is more forgiving and tolerant.
Volatility and risk are manageable, especially due to zero leverage. This means better control of emotions and zero stress, due to less risk.
With day trading, I constantly experienced wide emotional reactions. Mental fatigue, FOMO, FOLO, energy drain were all my companions every single day. Impulsive decisions often meant losses, bad trading habits, temper tantrums, sulking, and being an introvert.
Thankfully, better sense prevailed. The Universe became kind, benevolent and the shift occurred to becoming slow and better.
Better Emotional Control and Discipline:
By moving to positional trading, ample time was at hand. Whether to study the markets, or its structure, or the price action. Everything soon became deliberate and conscious. Journalling and record-keeping became so much easier.
Meditation and yoga practice became so much deep, enjoyable, and superior.
Studying my trades, reflecting on past performance became vastly manageable and took substantially less time and energy.
This newfound clarity ensured better decisions and consistency. Major improvements were experienced in mindset, psychology, and in my trading patterns and behavior as well.
Formulating a well-thought-out trading plan, considering and deliberating on all possible scenarios became easier and better.
Being level-headed became the norm since the volatility witnessed in day trading was now gone. Plus the effects of deeper and longer meditation started to become evident. The compounding effect was very visible and profound.
All this contributed to better discipline, almost zero emotional swings, and an excellent long-term vision and mindset.
How did this long-term mindset and vision start to benefit me?
Long Term Mindset
Focus had now shifted to following the process than reacting to the market moves.
It became a wonderful experience to stay detached, calm, and experience the zen-like state. The pressure and focus to make daily gains and targets were gone for good.
Trading account growth started to become consistent and better. The focus was to maintain and build upon consistency and to meet or exceed my annual targets and goals.
In fact as a side effect, within the first quarter itself, I happened to exceed my annual goals, and that too with great ease.
Within the first year of the shift to slow, I became better and faster at being more profitable.
This long-term mindset not only led to a much better performance in the markets, but this went on to reflect in several areas of my life.
For the first time in a long time, I started to experience the meaning of a balanced life.
Balanced life
As a result of shifting to slow, I became more conscious, more balanced across all areas of my life.
Physical health improved vastly. I started working more on my physical and mental health.
Much needed dramatic weight reduction soon followed. So much so that for the first time, I inspired several others by my actions and deeds.
Getting more time with myself meant more time pursuing my passions for nature, personal development, birding, photography, meditation, visualization, and self-reflection.
For me, moving from day trading to slow positional trading turned out to be such a huge blessing.
The process of being consistently profitable and being balanced may have taken several years of grinding it out, the hard way. I guess I’m a slow learner, as is evident from my experiences.
Yet I’m indeed glad and immensely grateful to be the late bloomer. It’s so hugely satisfying to be counted amongst the 1% profitable active traders.
This doesn’t at all mean that day trading isn’t profitable.
If you are experiencing challenges with it, you may want to consider a shift to becoming slow in life and in trading.
How does pursuing a balanced life, that’s full of joy, growth, and abundance in all areas of your life, sound to you?
A balanced life can often resolve very differently and open up amazing possibilities that one may never have imagined.
When your vision is wide, your mind is calm and slow. You will positively experience growth, ease, and joy. It all depends on the choices you make. Choose wisely.