In a recent podcast with Steven Goldstein and Mark Randall, we explored a few basic ideas of trading and spirituality. Here are three big ideas from the coming book:
1) Many of the problems of trading do not come from diagnosable psychological disorders, but rather come from intrusions of the ego into the trading process. It is when we become self-focused and focused on P/L that we are most likely to lose our feel and understanding for markets.
2) The answer to our trading problems is not so much self-help and self-improvement, but rather self-transcendence. We need to transcend our "small selves"--who we identify with in day to day experience--and step back to find our larger selves. Tapping into our larger identities provides us with meaning and energy. Our best trading comes from the soul--the larger self--and not from the ego.
3) The major spiritual traditions of the world provide techniques and paths for us to cultivate our spirituality and access our larger selves. Our strengths define our essence: what we are good at and what speaks to us. A spiritual life taps into those strengths to ground us in an overarching life purpose.
There is much more to spirituality than doing a meditation exercise a few minutes each day. I look forward to exploring this with traders in an interactive format and in a practical fashion. Thanks to Steve and Mark for the opportunity to discuss some of these ideas!
Further Exploration:
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