You Can't Touch Me
"If you lay violent hands on me, you'll have my body, but my mind will remain with Stilpo."
— Zeno Quoted in Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers
Today's meditation is a reminder of how important it is to protect and look after your mind, as it is one of your greatest and most powerful assets!
People often say (myself included) that if you can control your mind, you can control yourself and be successful at whatever you set out to do.
Philosophy and psychology also plays a big part in trading, to enable us to maintain the correct mindset and stay patient, disciplined, focused and "in the zone."
Exercising the mind is really important and I like to take a pre-trading walk of at least 30 minutes, to clear my mind and think about my plans for the day. I also like to meditate and relax my mind, which I also find a great help too. Even a short 20 minute meditation, done regularly on a daily basis, can make a huge difference for me!
That feeling of being totally in control during a trading session, with a clear and concise trading plan, is something quite hard to put into words! However, by having this mindset to be able to stick totally to the rules/criteria for your strategies and nothing else, gives you a great confidence to be able to use your edge and make the right decisions, by reacting to what you are seeing happen, time and time again; rinse and repeat.
No matter what the markets throw at you on a daily basis, if your mind is in the right place, you can handle it and trust yourself to make the right decisions.
If you can treat your mind well and remain sharp and focused, your mind will look after you in return. This is a great strength to have on your trading journey and your mind can become an impregnable inner fortress.
Treat your mind and yourself with kindness; it's all part of the master plan to help you flourish and grow as a trader, as well as in every day life!