To make money in combination with freedom to work from anywhere, being your own boss and being able to do anything that you want, when you want is some of the main reasons why people get into the trading game; at least initially. But in this post I want to point out some other benefits (non monetary) that trading offers, that can actually improve you as a person. That’s if you stick to trading long enough. Sometimes it happens without you even realising it.
We are all unique and we all have our own strengths and weaknesses. Trading seems to want to take advantage of all our weaknesses as opposed to our strengths (for me at least). In my experience trading will reveal things about yourself that you never knew before; both positive and negative (especially the negative). I really don’t mean to make trading sound gloomy but I write this build up to more positive things.
If you stick with trading long enough you will come to realise at some point that successful trading has a lot to do about managing yourself. You might also find that some of the kinks that show up in your trading and life is the same. For me it’s simple, if you want to improve the quality of your trading, chances are you will have to work on yourself and that can lead to you becoming a better person as a whole. I will try and explain using some of the problems that can come up in trading as examples in the following paragraphs.
Anger might show up in your trading just as it can show up in life. To find ways to control your anger just in trading and not in your life will be hard I think. I think it will be much better (and easier) to work on it in general (in your trading and as a person). In this way there is the possible benefit of becoming a better trader and person.
The same can be said about patience and discipline which hampers many a trader out there. It’s great to realise that it’s a problem and wanting to work on it. But would it not be much better (and easier) to cultivate it in your life as well?
You will find that when it comes to trading having a set routine for how you approach your trading is very beneficial. Developing habits to improve your trading. What do you do to prepare for trading (how / when you create your watchlist for instance), during a trading session (do you record your trades and how?) and after a trading session (reviewing trades)? Having a routine and habits in trading can be very beneficial as it can be in how you approach other things in your life. Imagine bringing habitats / routines into other areas of your life such as exercising or studies for example?
Trading will teach you the importance of learning from trading mistakes for improvement. By cultivating that sort of mindset in everything else that you do, think of how you might improve as a person in addition to your trading.
The above was just a couple of examples of how finding solutions to trading problems might be beneficial to apply them in your life in general. This is because trying to be one person during trading and another outside of it might cause some friction in your life. Won’t it be much easier and smoother to try and incorporate them into your life as well, with a big possibility of improving yourself as a person? Now think of all the other issues many traders face like ego, greed, fear, high expectations, laziness, carelessness, pride and then some. Can you add your own? Can you imagine how you might improve as a person by working on them both for yourself and your trading operations?
And then there is the practice of mindfulness. If you are the kind of trader that enjoys reading and listening to other traders (podcasts, blogs and trading books) you are sure to be introduced to this topic and all the many benefits it offers for trading and life in general. If I were to start writing about it here, it will have to be a brand new post. All I can tell you is that it has benefited me personally in trading and in my life and it’s something I can recommend to anyone; not just traders.
I hope this post showed that there are many non monetary rewards in trading and how it can be beneficial to us as traders beyond our trading operations. Thanks so much for reading.
Thanks and regards,
Trading SOS SOS