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Trading Psychology-as I solve it

  #1 (permalink)
 JackOfAllTrades 
Kolkata,India
 
Posts: 19 since Apr 2017

Hi,

If psychology is the problem (not edge) that is the obstacle to your trading success-I hope you'll find value in this post.

After a lot of searching (both outward & inward),I propose the following 4 models-

1.Adrenaline & Cortisol:

Put simply,adrenaline is the biggest problem for a trader-at least for me.

When you overtrade,trade for a short term satisfaction rather than logic,double up size with a gambling mentality to recoup past losses,revenge trade,can't sleep at night thinking about what in the earth you're thinking while you took today's losing trades-the thing that's driving you to do these is adrenaline.

Signs that you're operating under influence of Adrenaline-a lot of quick thoughts in a short amount of time,impatience, anxiety, anger,faster heartbeat,drum like thumping heartbeat,increased sweating & feeling of heat,agitability etc.

Adrenaline in healthy amount & in appropriate regions of brain is actually helping.This is what keeps you awake,makes you sharp,gives you energy,makes you feel good,makes you fall in love etc.

Keywords are:healthy amount & appropriate regions of brain.

Cortisol has many roles,for traders most relevant are:keeping you awake,giving you sustained energy for a long time,helping you think clearly without mental fog.

We'll come to how we can take advantage of these later but for now to understand how these 2 matter just remember the following-
A top poker player who can play good poker for say 14 hours a day have a more than average cortisol level in in his blood with less/equal to average adrenaline with temporary rise in adrenaline when special situation occurs(eg-he gets dealt a pair of Aces or finishes his straight/flush draw in river/turn).

2.Why I do,what I do-emotion:

Say I got stopped out twice,still I chase a trend in a late stage hoping it will go more when I should know better than that.Because last week I lost money,the trip that I planned to some sunny island this week probably not going to happen.

The frustration from this uncertainty,along with anger with myself for my dumb mistakes last week,a pinch of feeling unworthiness-drives to again make me feel worthy by work an entry here & say to myself-see it wasn't a climax,you see right through the strength of this trend.You can still have the life of a successful trader & unlimited tours.

These only force me to join late in trend & reinforce my trial to prove me right & ordering market to do what I want it to do.

Various mix of emotions drive us to do what we do,while various mix of adrenaline (& other similar substances) will decide which emotions will drive us.I'll get to discuss how we can take benefits from this relation later in some post.

For today a small fix-I found myself time after time again doing these things while I make bad trading decisions:clenching of my jaws/facial muscles,a slight tendency to lean forward,a knot like feeling in abdomen,a choking feeling inside my throat,rapid shallow breathing.These are all effects of adrenaline & substances alike.

While we can't control exact amount of how much adrenaline should be in our blood(actually we can with some use of calming herbals/anxiolytics-but in which region in how much amount will get messed up,I'll cover this later) we can still reverse some of adrenaline's effect & thereby limit adrenaline itself.

Find out what are the physical things that you knowingly/unknowingly perform during faulty trading decisions(even subtle things matter) & reverse those that are capable of reversing,use some creativity.

For me these includes-taking big infrequent breaths,relaxing jaws/facial muscle,sitting very comfortably in my chair(comfort counters adrenaline effects),visualising choking feeling in throat as a large ball of chocolate that gets dissolved slowly in my throat,visualising knot in my abdomen getting firstly straightened over a large area over my abdomen & ultimately disppearing.

3.If you can understand it,you can defeat it:

If you understand your inner demon,you can formulate an effective counter strategy.It applies to to trading as well as anything related to your life.

For example:say every time a car keeps honking & overtakes my car,I feel bad.Actually it triggers some fundamental issues inside me that made me who I am.

In this case,I studied hard in my academic life & was a successful one even from my early childhood.I think a part inside my parents loved me only as an accomplished child.I'm sure somehow I used to feel good by their affection.Every now & then,when another one came out at top in an exam-I felt like I've totally lost the battle & my parents will never accept me as who I am now.Car honking somehow sounds like that boy cheering loudly after beating me in exam(aka came ahead of me in speed in road).

As you can see,it's not a healthy situation for me.Those thing in my past made me a very competitive guy.It's not a good way to live in a society,also driving recklessly is injurious to health.

So now each time that happens,I think to myself-may be a mother is taking her sick child to hospital(instantly I feel sympathy for that poor mother & clear my car ahead of road) or an young man trying to catch his first job interview(I can easily empathize with that).

As for trading-this same mentality makes me unforgiving for my trading error,trying to predict market accurately,having a hard time accepting I'm wrong when in a losing trade thereby failure to exit at breakeven or scratch(I tend to take full stop loss limit).

My strategy for these is-sometimes you've to lose/be wrong to win in market/to do the really right thing.Say Steven A Cohen was only right 55% of time but still he made a lot of money by cutting his positions quickly when he's wrong,if you can do that may be you can't be Stevie but you'll make a good living from trading.Or say,even though Spiderman liked MJ watson a lot he rejected MJ to do the really right thing as to do as to serve his city(silly,I know).

So figure out what is fuelling your problem(in this case-ego,pride,feeling of superiority,control freak,a deep rooted feeling of unworthiness) & then either uproot that fuel totally or provide it alternative/compensation(in this case-losing now is okay because it makes you winner in the long end,I can be a proud being but to do the right thing/if it serves greater good I can leave it).

4.Beyond the matrix:

I think I hit the jackpot with this(in my case).It'll take some time to accept it,but once you can accept it-you can truly change yourself to your best.

My Dad was a very hardworking man & was quite successful.I'll label himself as workaholic,I never understood how he managed to do all the boring things so effectively, day after day.

Then one day while I was observing my 3 year old niece playing,I figured it out.

My niece was playing with some shiny wrappers of chocolates.She's playing so joyfully,almost completely absorbed.What hit me was that she's playing that much joyfuly with nothing but a silly wrapper.

On one hand,I saw nothing exceptional about it other than it's shiny texture(golden exterior with a silver interior).Why is that thing not in bin yet?What's so fascinating about it that she finds so much joy in it?

I can never know what's really going on inside her mind,but I can assume in the line of these:

a shiny little object that produces funny sound when touched,she just ate those chocolates few minutes ago & from their price I assume they're reasonably good tasted,somehow she anchored the feeling of chocolate taste to that wrapper-so playing with it is a reminder of how good that chocolate felt inside her mouth a few mins ago,it reminds her of the bonding with me & a reminder she can get this good feeling whenever she asks me to-so a feeling of appreciation & acceptance of herself,she's yet to know the good feelings of say-games/travelling/bungee jumping/just chilling with a old friend.

So I realised we grow up into what we've been programmed to be & that programming continues everyday.We coded meaning to things as we saw our elders coded it meaning.

To be continued...

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  #3 (permalink)
 JackOfAllTrades 
Kolkata,India
 
Posts: 19 since Apr 2017


Say a child burnt her hand in fire-she'll probably grow up seeing fire as a dangerous thing.While another child who managed to learn from an elderly the funny trick of taking some flammable liquid in mouth & then blowing that on fire as if she can ignite fire from mouth like a dragon-will probably grow up seeing fire as an interesting thing.

In another way to put it,everything we see is as it is because we think it is as it is.

As I realized,everything is neutral.But my past experience/other's opinion about it defines it in the way I see it.Given different circumstances & absence of supportive circumstances, all meanings are changeable.

So say my Dad learnt the value of meticulous hard working early in his life.Combined with the pride he took in doing things earlier than their scheduled time while doing it excellently,he probably actually felt good about hardworking rather than feeling bad.Probably also a pinch of accomplishment.

Absent was fun related to typical hanging out,gossiping with friend.Or probably these were fun to him too,but he valued work ethics more.

If he born into a billionaire family,I can imagine a very heardworking man can get used to a laid back & fun attitude.

But that doesn't make having billions more fun or work less fun.We just perceive them to be so.

It's very possible one can get a kick out of working 100 hours a week rather than chilling in a yacht over Mediterranean if he's trained/grew up/used to code fun in that way.

Yes,we are coded to do a lot of things that makes life wonderful (reunion with family/friends,caring for others,helping people) but we are coded to do a lot of things that are harmful/damaging to ourselves(thinking I can't be wrong,the more money I make in life the happier I'll be,I have to win in every situation etc.)

Thing is the coding isn't unchangeable & it's certainly not finished yet.Some codings will take a longer to change,while some codes can be changed quickly with a loophole.

First time,you read or think about this-it will probably not make much sense.But don't worry.Who became a proficient reader in one night?

It will take some spaced repetition before it all sinks in & you can begin to accept it.The more repetition you'll apply with a measured frequency, the more synapses you make that supports this new thing.After a cumulative period,it will become second nature.

Good news is,once you do,with a bit of creativity-potentials are endess.

I'm currently working on: the more patience I have-the more pleasure I feel(I found a loophole in my code to integrate joy of fishing with trading),difficult/badmouthed people deserve gentler handling(it actually improved my manner a lot,as I realised & can empathize what they experienced in childhood to be coded out such as of now),detaching money from trading(I now see trading as more of a game that I'm playing to get a very high score-courtesy goes to Paul Rotter) etc.

Once you're able to utilize this-your trading & personal life both will be greatly benefited(in my case,a lot).

So,thank you for reading a very long post.Please pardon my bad English,I'm not a native speaker.

Happy trading & best wishes in every aspect of your life.

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  #4 (permalink)
 Grantx 
Reading UK
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Absolutely riveting read! I agree with so much of what you say.


Quoting 
Various mix of emotions drive us to do what we do

Emotions are everything. Every single decision you make has a memory component and emotion attached to it. Everything.. Impossible to make decisions without those two elements. Studies on people who have lost their short term memory proves this.


Quoting 
If you can understand it,you can defeat it:

Sun Tzu said: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”


Quoting 
So I realised we grow up into what we've been programmed to be & that programming continues everyday.

You cannot escape this fact no matter how much you want to be something else. That is why it is easier to accept who you are and your circumstances. When you accept, you stop comparing, and a big eight is lifted.

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  #5 (permalink)
 JackOfAllTrades 
Kolkata,India
 
Posts: 19 since Apr 2017


Grantx View Post
When you accept, you stop comparing, and a big eight is lifted.

It's liberating & a quite wonderful feeling.

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  #6 (permalink)
 Grantx 
Reading UK
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JackOfAllTrades View Post

So,thank you for reading a very long post.Please pardon my bad English,I'm not a native speaker.

Happy trading & best wishes in every aspect of your life.

Hey JackOfAllTrades. Your post is very well written, clear and concise. I am interested to know what your loophole was and how you associate patience with pleasure? Would you care to share that?


Quoting 
As I realized,everything is neutral

This is a profound. Reminds me of a quote: "Your mind is like the monkey on the elephant that thinks the reins do something" - Pete Ashley. We think we have it all figured out but in reality we have very little influence over things so emotional attachment to the outcome of an event (a trade for instance) is absurd when all is beyond your control.

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  #7 (permalink)
 JackOfAllTrades 
Kolkata,India
 
Posts: 19 since Apr 2017


Grantx View Post
I am interested to know what your loophole was and how you associate patience with pleasure? Would you care to share that?

Hi Grantx,

Sure,why not.It's a pleasure to assist others.

Firstly, I tend to see every internal conflict as a battle berween 2 powerful emotional entity.Each emotional entity can have several emotions working under it.The stronger/more powerful emotional entity wins the battle.

Say in trading,I know making money is what's really important at the end of day but I find mindself repeatedly focusing more on predicting exact market turning points.

So here,2 emotional entities are-the part inside me that knows plus tells me making money is what counts(I label this as the positive entity) & the other part that just tries to predict market with precise accuracy (label as negative entity).

Forces of emotion that are under play in positive entity-an idea of how wonderful a successful trader's lifestyle is,to be able to take a lot of trips around the world,to be able to taste fine cuisines,a deep rooted human urge to do the really right thing,a bad feeling if I fail to do the right thing.

Forces of emotion under play of negative entity-various memories of accomplishments in throughout my life,a side that compares my present achievement with previous memories & badmouths me if I underperform,a form of my parents voice saying-you're just not good enough,a belief that if I can't be very good I probably won't be able to make a living in a market full of so many smart people,a feeling of euphoria if I can predict correctly (like Nostradamus),a desire to be able to perform in the same level of traders with uncanny ability to predict market(think Gann or a very good chart reader) & thereby reassuring myself-yes,I can make a living in market as Gann/others made so no reason to think battle is lost,a deep rooted feeling of unworthiness carrying on from childhood.

As you can see,the number & force of the emotions under negative entity vastly outweighes positive entity.So even with a positive intention for my wellbeing,positive entity loses Battle frequently with negative entity.In my opinion, positive entity really never stood a chance.

All our conflicts/problems(both in trading & life) I think originate from a variation of this same model.The entity with more & stronger emotions will win the battle invariably.Unless we can lessen the number plus weaken the forces of emotions under negative entity or increase the number & strengthen forces of emotions under positive entity it probably always will be a losing battle for positive entity(I'll try to cover how in a later post).

So,to find your loophole figure what are the things you value most in your life & what are the most powerful emotions that drive you(for most people,these will be along these lines-a strong desire to live & to protect closer/loved ones).Every person is unique-so those will vary from one people to another even if only slightly.

Then summon up the related forces of emotions that can be helpful for the issue/conflict you're dealing with(I find it helpful to keep a list of all the forces that drive my existence,but you may find most are probably not related to every problem-key is to be able to conclude which are applicable to which issues).

In this case-my old man used to take me with him when he went to fishing(usually during vacations),I've many powerful feel good memories here,it's probably one of those times when a father bonds with his lad-in a way it shaped my later life,we used to have periods of long peaceful silence with a few sentences in between(I actually found it's a good time for soul searching & thinking inward-I felt like my old man is also doing so),he taught me the value of delayed pleasure & that all good things come to those who can wait,in between the session few times a rewarding feeling of catching some good fish & ending of session with peace plus pleasure & some fishes in our bucket as compliment.

Some sessions were not as good as others but overall a peaceful reference experience for me.Do a thing often enough in presence of a stimuli,it will get anchored(think Pavlov's experiment with dog).In this case these memories are powerful peace & calm inducer for me-peace releases endorphins in body,endorphins counters adrenaline.So in general sense,calm/peace(endorphin) counters anxiety/panic(adrenaline).

Delayed pleasure-a powerful thing that many of us lacks.There's a thing called Marshmallow test-where kids are given a few marshmallows to eat & said that after an hour or half an hour(can't recall exact figure)-those managed to still not eat these,they'll get a lot of marshmallows.(imagine how difficult it would be for a kid to resist sweet temptation) On follow up after they became adults,it's found that those who managed to make it for a whole hour-are more successful financially,academically & various aspects of life then their counterparts.

In case of summoning up these emotions-any value/belief/memory/existing anchors will do.I label them all under general heading of emotion-as ultimately they all provoke some kind of emotion.

The next step is actually several steps.It's the process for me to reject an old idea & to accept a new idea(yours probably vary from me-take mine as template & figure out what makes you tick).I'll provide the example for making patience a pleasure after the steps,then it'll get clear.For now,the steps are:

1.Rendering meaningless:

in this step,I've to know an idea is ultimately meaningless b4 I can discard it & get over it completely.

For me,it's easy.I observe a lot of children & can identify how they take a totally neutral object & code it as pain/pleasure/good/bad for me.So when I repeat in my mind over & over as a primer for next steps-there's no such thing as impatience,that usually will do.

It's said that it takes about consecutive 21 days to mentally accept what we say to ourselves repeatedly.I find it a day full of lot of repetitions followed by a week of daily reminder followed by again a day full of lot of repetitions-in this manner for a few weeks to sink it in.(don't just repeat it mentally,imagine vividly all supporting evidence/memories with sound,tou & smell etc.-the more vivid it is,the faster mind accept it,I'll discuss it in future)

If you can't accept/have powerful effect thinking everything is neutral try others.I used to associate death to provide a context of meaninglessness but it can get depressing.Just find out how it probably doesn't matter/reduce effect(say I feel bad if my favorite team loses in sport today,I know/remind myself after 5 years when I'll be chilling out with an old friend-it will probably not matter much)

2.Benefits:

Here I've to know what I'll get out of the deal to convince my mind to reject an old idea/accept a new idea(think knowing my profit target b4 entering a trade)

Here I try to accumulate as many reasons/benefits to support this change as possible.Finding a lot of reasons is important for me,bcos I'm outnumbering negative emotional entity.

Say for impatience-being more patient simply means a lot of money,being patient means I can be a good fisherman, my old man had plenty of patientce so if I can achieve patience somehow my existence can transcend all these & achieve unison with him,being patient means I'll make a lot of good decisions regarding my life/love life,It means I'll have more time for deep thinking/soul searching while waiting for an event to happen(think waiting for a trade,catching a fish after a long pause),I often hear great traders are like predators/snipers(patiently waiting to hit just when the time is right)-so by being patient I can can have the experience of such,Compounding is a very powerful force-by being patient I can get very rich by using it(think Warren Buffett)

3.Losses:

It's actually the mirror image of benefits.Figure out what are the things you'll miss/your losses if you fail to make this change(in lines of-if I can't be patient I'm building the coffin of my financial suicide,children tend to be impatient/implusive-as a grown man I can't be like that etc.)

To be continued...

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  #8 (permalink)
 JackOfAllTrades 
Kolkata,India
 
Posts: 19 since Apr 2017

In all cases,try to use vivid & clear imagination along with the causes.I find my mind accepts easily what it can see clearly.

4.Accomplished example:

Here you give one/more examples of any one achieving what you're trying to achieve. Somehow if mind knows there's somebody anywhere in the world could achieve this,it is possible.

For this,I think of Tibetan monks/sage who are allowed to say only a sentence in every 10 years.And those sensei of Kung fu schools in China-who regularly does very mundane things repeatedly for a long period.

Mind then gets the idea that if such extreme kinda patient people can exist in this world,it's probably not much of a problem to be patient for 3-4 hours a day for 5 days in a week.Other times it has the freedom to get as much impulsive as it wants to be.

5.Failure example:

Mirror image of accomplished example.Provide some known cases of failure who failed to do so what you're trying to do & thereby failed in their pursuit of happiness/success.Key here is to provide something so fateful that it will scare you & make you say to yourself-I don't want to be one of those guys.

For this,I provide the example of Jesse Livermore for me.Imagine making millions & losing millions repeatedly,becoming so good that you're summoned to help saving your country's economy.

A man who can both be right & sit tight is hard to find.(I think,I know the physiological basis.Adrenaline is the thing that makes people smarter,it's also the very thing that makes us impatient)

6.Towards pleasure:

Most living things in this world have code to move towards pleasure.

So if your mind responds to you positively in regard to what you want out of it-give it appreciation & appraisal.Give it a little reward here & there,nothing major-say a 10 minute afternoon walk in park,a cup of coffee/cocoa.

For appreciation & appraisal I go in line of these-wow,good job mind.You've managed to change positively, not many can do so.Keep up this good work & we'll see how far you'll go in life.(remember there's no one is judging you,so say whatever you think will make it feel great.key is to make this a habit for it-so that it will crave for some appreciation & be driven to do further praiseworthy things.)

7.Away from pleasure:

Mirror image of pleasure,organisms tend to move away from pain.If mind shows some resistance make it painful for it to do so.

Use it cautiously,I currently don't use it much.As child we're forced to do many things that we didn't like,I find using pain triggers the same mechanism & makes my mind go rebel.

For some person,it can be quite effective-even probably can be the missing link.Say an alcoholic decides to quit drinking after her wife leaves him,if he can associate alcohol to all the bad things happening in his life & remember/relive those painful memories while trying to quit drinking it can be very powerful.

Though drinking brings back sad/repressed memory-so use some caution.But in many other cases,pain can be used safely.Pain/disapproval should be suited to one's hidden pains/heartbreaks so I'm not able to show some examples here.

8.Adapt & overcome:

If you are a marine-a lot mental toughness/physical toughness is probably already within you.Find out a character that you've great liking to/you adore so much & if he's faced with the same issue how he'd cope with it.

Common themes that goes here-be strong,be tough,be fearless,be like a zen master(calm & collected etc.).What happens is each time you do these & say the same things to you your mind takes this code & over months you'll actually feel stronger tougher etc.

I personally use Peter Parker from Spiderman(old ones with Toby Maguire in it),you can use whoever you want.(Say Paul Rotter/Harris Brumfield/Larry williams etc.)

If you're made to live in a hostile environment for a long time,the evoluation phases that you go through to survive in that is these-firstly you'll improvise what is available, then you adapt to sync with your nature & finally overcome hostility(in the process becoming stronger than b4) to flourish in that hostility.People who live in mountains tend to be tougher stronger with powerful lungs than average people.

What doesn't kill you,makes you stronger.Make battling with your issues a journey of personal evolution.

9.Forget:

It may not be applicable to all.I noticed,I tend to remember periodically over whole day that I'm trying to change & as I remember, that issue gets reopened in my mind & open for discussion-thereby a chance to have defense argument from the part where my unwanted behavior lives.

It goes against my interest,so other than the times I'm doing these sreps I don't bring the issue in mind at all.Forgetting mechanism is different in us all,so I can't be of much help(as a hint,I figured out after noticing how I get over a hurtful thing say I lost in a game today & after a week that doesn't bother me-figuring out what changes in that week other than 7 nights of sleep & a week of time)

10.Make it regular habit:

Eventually make this a habit of your way of living.If working with patience as pleasure,I try to make it an integrated part of me & denying it's periodical craving.Say I ordered a cup of coffee in a cafe,I wait & observe people/things around me & think what I can learn/observe here that can be valuable in future for solving some problem.

I feel grateful(& a sense of pleasure) knowing without patience I probably would have rushed through all these tiny things & may not notice all the tiny things that make people who they are.(it doesn't have to be major-noticing a good voice tone,an innocent child's smile can be enough for reinforcement of this way of your being)

I heard about monks who can drink a cup of tea for an hour & can enjoy every tiny bit texture of it for an whole hour.I'm not there yet,but I'm very curious to find how that can be possible.

One who is meticulous in doing small things,probably be meticulous in doing major things that really matter-I just try to capture this into my way of being with this step.

Applying these steps with help of emotional permutation-a lot of things can be changed.For a first few times/few days try to go through all these steps-that's when new synapses are being made.Once it's done,you'll find just first few steps are enough to leave unwanted traits & gaining desirable traits.Continue it long enough,it will become part of your nature.

I wanted to insert the example of dealing with patience to pleasure here with all those steps-but post is getting longer & I think with what I provided you can get how I'm trying to do so.

I designed the whole model to strengthen positive emotional entity & to weaken negative emotional entity.In terms of trading,price will go to whatever side of buying pressure/selling pressure or demand/supply is stronger-here victory in the inner battle goes to whatever side of emotional entities is stronger.

I hope that helps.

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  #9 (permalink)
 
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 rahulgopi 
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What you are trying to accomplish with emotions, classifying them as positive and negative - Rande Howell teaches in his "Trading state of mind" using archetypes ( Orphan, Sage, Warrior etc ). I have been thru a lot of different methods in search of accomplishing the inner state of peace. Since I quit my job and realized I have an issue, I resorted to having a quick fix, as I was eager to make it work and succeed in trading. Here is a list of things I have tried

NLP
Hypnosis
Rande Howell
Emotion Code
Sedona Method
Morty Lefkoe (Lefkoe method )
Trained with a Samurai (author of The warrior Trader )
Light and sound machines / Biofeedback
Isha Yoga
Zen meditation
Heartfulness meditation
Calmdownmind blog

As you can see, I have tried almost everything to see what really clicked. When I was following emotions and classifying them, I have observed that one will be in a constant state of conflict, draining a lot of life energy. I was trying to solve the issue with thinking / thoughts with more thoughts with the very mind that created them at the first place.

Fast forward 5 years, I am at the most peaceful state I have ever been. Life is not all rosy and I havnt exceptionally improved my trading but I have developed a little space between me and my thoughts. 99.99% of our thoughts are unconscious and useless but we resort to compulsive behavior as we get latched to thinking. If one can be conscious about this and let the thoughts pass, you will switch from a compulsive to more conscious life.

These days I follow very simple mindfulness techniques / meditation like do nothing zen meditation or the process of dropping your accumulations ( your body , mind / thoughts/beliefs/emotions, family / friends , ego/personality etc ).
If you drop all that you have accumulated, you are left with what you really are. One day mother earth will claim all you have accumulated, see what is left after that. Please dont assume or believe in soul /aatma stuff , as it is not in our experience yet - what ever you imagine will create more mind fantasies - instead sit with the feeling of what is left after your accumulations are reclaimed .

With all that said, it is a personal journey and every one goes thru their own pace and path. Thank you for sharing your experience as this will hep many others embarking on a similar pursuit.

PS : I cam across this article by Deepak Chopra after writing this,

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/your-real-self-waiting-discovered-deepak-chopra-md-official-?trk=v-feed&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_feed%3BbBIMwEArQT01CIPNZgThrg%3D%3D

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  #10 (permalink)
 JackOfAllTrades 
Kolkata,India
 
Posts: 19 since Apr 2017



rahulgopi View Post
Fast forward 5 years, I am at the most peaceful state I have ever been.

An awesome post indeed.

I believe inner peace is the path-I'm ultimately trying to reach.But I doubt everyone labels exactly the same state of mind as peace.

You mentioned quite a list of stuff there.I tend to do a lot of things & usually find not enough time left for myself.So can you please suggest which stuffs you found most useful & worth exploring?

I deduce most of the self help stuffs out there are commercialized junk that are designed to take money from people who need help,without any intention of actually helping anyone.

But I'm very curious about meditation.Unfortunately,I don't know any good resource about it.I think you've found something that works for you,I'll appreciate it much if you can provide me a list of all the stuffs related to this.

I tried meditation in the past,but with little to no success.I've a very active mind,I find it's hard to settle it down even for few minutes.

I totally agree with the fact that most of our thoughts are unconscious.I'm currently working on why they happen the way they do.I think they're trying to benefit us somehow & trying to protect our interests.(Say if I take trading very seriously my unconscious thoughts get more biased on trading-I end up with most of my thoughts somehow related to trading,or say I'm quite bored after working for long hours-the reason then I think of a beautiful flute tone/some pleasant childhood memory is because my subconscious is trying to save me from boredom)

I believe there's a pattern in this randomness & unconscious doesn't know exactly when just how much effort is needed to help us-so even with a good intention it fails to help us.If we can consciously somehow give it when/how much effort is needed,it may end up being helpful.If I figure out something,I'll make sure to share it.

I've a fear-that if I immerse myself in do nothing meditation,agree that 99.9% of unconscious thoughts are useless,probably we're sorrounded by nothingness as suggested by some(Westworld/Sophie's Verden/Matrix/Thirteenth Floor/scriptures) I may end up getting depressed without any pursuit of happiness or even trading.

It's probably the reason I use nothingness concept to help solving some of my issues,but never allow me to think about it deeply even though somehow I feel like it may be really the case.

I want to know-have you ever found it's depressing/lacking a sense of purpose while you're working towards your current state of peace?

I'm always happy to hear someone amongst us found peace in his life,it's like unplugging from matrix.Happy to meet you,best wishes for your life & trading.

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Last Updated on April 19, 2017


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