This is one of the reasons important change can occur when people "hit bottom". It's when everything has gone wrong and we're in despair that we're willing to make a complete overhaul in what we do. Therapists refer to this as "corrective emotional experiences."
But it's not just negative experience and setbacks that can help us see and do things differently. Sometimes powerful positive experiences have the same impact. One example is the experience of awe: when we are so inspired by something positive that it becomes a part of us and changes our perspectives going forward. In a new article, I describe recent research into awe and how experiences of awe literally renew our energy and help us become more successful.
A theme I have never heard expressed in conventional trading psychology is that markets--and participation in markets--can become sources of awe. That is, they can be awe-inspiring. When we perceive the vast complexity of markets and so immerse ourselves that we perceive a meaningful pattern, it's as if we're catching a glimpse of the universe. It's not an ego thing at all, strutting about and proclaiming your "conviction" in an idea. Rather, it's standing back and absorbing all that is happening and allowing ideas and themes to come to you.
Trading with your ego ultimately depletes our energy, as we take too many P/L dings. Trading with a sense of openness and awe can give us energy. It can be inspiring. And that inspiration and awe can help us change how we see the world--it becomes a *positive* corrective emotional experience. Many traders become frustrated with markets and fight what is happening. How different it is to experience markets as awe-some!
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