Life Is A Battlefield
"Don't you know life is like a military campaign? One must serve on watch, another in reconnaissance, another on the front line. . . . So it is for us — each person's life is a kind of battle, and a long and varied one too. You must keep watch like a soldier and do everything commanded. . . . You have been stationed in a key post, not some lowly place, and not for a short time but for life."
— Epictetus, Discourses
Let's look at today's meditation through the eyes of a trader. After all, I often say that when we are trading, we have to "live to fight another day."
I will break down the attributes required as per the meditation:
1) Discipline: We must be disciplined to be able to stick to the rules/criteria for our strategies 100% of the time.
2) Fortitude: We must also have the strength of mind to be patient, when dealing with any scenario that occurs during a trade and deal with it decisively, without hesitation.
3) Courage: Having the courage to trust our strategies and manage every trade to completion, is another ingredient required.
4) Clear headedness: Taking breaks away from the screen to stay refreshed and "in the zone," will keep our heads clear for the concentration required, when we are trading.
5) Selflessness: We need to be humble enough to make regular honest self-assessments of our trades and encourage our mentors/trading buddies to actively teach, correct and challenge, as we discuss trading ideas or strategies together. This must work both ways of course, by teaching, correcting and challenging each other.
6) Sacrifice: We must sacrifice a trade that is going against us, while it is still manageable. This means it is controlled to a point where we are not putting our trading bank at risk and only sacrificing a small percentage of it, so that we are able to fight our next battle!
Now for the attributes for losing, that we need to avoid:1) Cowardice: We must not be afraid to enter a trade that fully meets our criteria, or we will never become profitable traders and in fact we will never even get going! We must have full trust and confidence in our strategies, whilst also having the awareness to exit a trade that is going against us, without hesitation when required.
2) Rashness: Rushing to enter a trade when we haven't done our research fully, is definitely rash behaviour that we must avoid at all times. We need to know that the rules/criteria for our strategies are fully met, before considering entering a trade.
3) Disorganisation: Our trading set up must be organised and ready to go at a moment's notice, so that we can enter a trade and exit a trade at exactly the right time. We cannot afford to be disorganised.
4) Overconfidence: We may be on a run of consistent and profitable trades and this is when complacency and overconfidence can come in to play. We start to feel invincible, unbeatable etc. This means we can be off our guard and get hit with an unmanageable trade that can seriously make a big dent in our bank and set us back by a few days or even worse!
We must stay humble, focused and fully concentrated, by respecting the market and knowing that it can kick us hard if we become complacent and overconfident.
So on reflection; just as "life is a battlefield"-- So is trading!