Hope And Fear Are The Same
"Hecato says, 'cease to hope and you will cease to fear.' . . . The primary cause of both these ills is that instead of adapting ourselves to present circumstances we send out thoughts too far ahead."
—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 5.7b–8
Another really interesting meditation today and it's definitely something that should resonate with us as traders!
We can be hoping a trade goes as we expect it to, but we can also be fearful that the trade will go against us!
It is perfectly explained in the meditation, stating that hope and fear are both projections into the future about things we do not control and both are the enemy of this present moment that we are actually in.
This is why it is so important to adopt a neutral mindset once we enter a trade, so that we can manage that trade to completion, based on what we are seeing unfold, and not what we hope/expect will happen. By doing this we are setting aside any potential hope and/or fear, because we are "in the zone" with the correct trading mindset to react to what is actually happening. The trades that go to plan will be profitable and they will look after themselves. It's when trades are going against us that we have to be ready to manage them in a heartbeat, to protect our trading bank and retain long term profitability.
The last paragraph is so very true and I quote; "It's not about overcoming our fears but understanding that both hope and fear contain a dangerous amount of want and worry in them. And, sadly, the want is what causes the worry."
By accepting that we can't control the outcome of an event and that we won't win every trade, we are reducing the want and the worry and managing those trades that are going against us, accordingly.
If you can eliminate the hope and the fear, it will drastically improve your trading mindset; I promise you!
Something to work on maybe? Food for thought.