Friday, January 02, 2015

Best Practices in Trading: Peak Performance Conditioning

Our next best practice in trading comes from Enis Taner (@EnisTaner) and captures the idea of keeping yourself in peak condition in all areas of life.  Enis explains, "I've found that it is crucial that I am physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually healthy if I am to take on the challenges of trading professionally."  Here's how Enis breaks it down:

Physical:  30-45 minutes of high intensity exercise, 5-6 times per week.

Emotional:  Making it a habit to meet friends and/or family for social gatherings on a regular basis (not less than 3 times per week).  "Good conversation is one of the best methods I've found to reduce mental stress," he observes.

Mental:  I try to practice trading techniques on multiple time frames.  Some weeks I will spend my learning time on reading financial statements and conference call transcripts with a focus toward long-term investments.  Other weeks, I will test out correlations of short-term technical indicators.  

Spiritual:  I spend five minutes each morning on new things for which to be grateful.  I've also found that helping others, especially young people, with positive thinking and life mentorship overall to be fruitful for my own spiritual well-being.

The key idea here is that it's not enough to reduce stress in order to be a peak performer in markets.  Just as an athlete must be in superb aerobic and strength condition with continuous skill practice and work on mental sharpness, the successful trader draws upon reserves from all areas of life.  It's not difficult to see how Enis' routines could be captured in a checklist, keeping him aligned with personal best practices.  Creating our own peak performance processes ensures that we sustain the energy and positivity to weather the normal ups and downs of trading.

Further Reading:  Success and Making Your Bed
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