Let's say I felt the need to have each of the cats enter cat shows and win awards. All of a sudden, I have to control their access to one another, structure their time to teach them routines, and make sure that one of them doesn't get the others sick. In short order, I would no longer treasure my time with the cats. Instead of enjoying them as an end in itself, now they become means to my ends. For me, that ruins the experience.
Similarly, I enjoy writing. The joy of writing is learning about a subject and then using the writing as a way of thinking out loud, making connections, and deepening that learning. If I were to suddenly prioritize how popular my writing was to become--how many books I would sell, how many hits my posts would get--that would change what and how I write. I would no longer enjoy the experience. Writing would become a means to an external end, not a end in itself.
Trading is more challenging in many ways because we *do* pursue trading for the end of making money. Yes, it can be enjoyable, but it's different from treasuring the time with our cats or our children. Ultimately it *is* a means to an end. And that can spoil the experience for those who treasure the quality of our experience.
Every so often, I'll add something new to my trading: a different time frame, a new indicator, a different market instrument. When I add the new element, I reduce my size to the point where P/L absolutely doesn't matter. Then I see if I enjoy the new perspective; if it leads to fresh insights. By taking P/L out of the equation, I can see if the trading is a rewarding activity in other ways. If it is, I know it's worth including in the repertoire.
Growing the trading repertoire is like growing the cat family. Trading is most likely to be rewarding--emotionally and financially--if we make it personally rewarding.
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