Three Questions to Ask About Your Positive Trading Psychology

 

The book that I'm currently writing, covering the positive psychology of trading, emphasizes that how we approach trading determines how positive our trading experiences become--and that helps determine our trading success.  Too often, people pursue happiness and fulfillment by seeking trading success.  The field of positive psychology suggests the reverse:  if our trading practices and processes draw upon our strengths and what is meaningful to us, we will trade with greater focus and energy, see more in markets, and interact more effectively with peer traders.  

So much of traditional trading psychology is problem-focused, emphasizing what we need to do to avoid reactive, emotional trading; what we need to do to accept risk and handle drawdowns, etc.  The reality is that we will never achieve a peak performance state simply by shoring up weaknesses.  Three questions to ask with respect to our achievement of a positive trading psychology are:

1)  Are my trading processes well-defined, and do they consistently draw upon my personality, social, and information processing strengths?  (Do I truly understand what my strengths are and how my trading methods draw upon those?)

2)  Do I find energy and fulfillment in the processes of trading regardless of near-term P/L?

3)  Do I draw upon the strengths of others and contribute to their strengths so that I am continually learning and improving?

We achieve a peak trading psychology by making our trading an expression of our greatest talents, skills, and ideals. 

Somewhere, hidden in your best trading, is the trader you're meant to be.  

The challenge is to develop a close relationship with your best self.

Further Reading:

Mastering the Positive Psychology of Trading

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