The Trauma of Trading
Trading in the stock market is an incredible world with limitless potential. But it is not for the faint of heart. We have learned this the hard way!
Winning can feel like an incredible high, especially as a young trader. Conversely, the losses can be heart-wrenching. You will discover feelings of loss that are so much deeper than just the money. Disappointment, frustration, regret, anger, fear of failure, depression. Every trader experiences these emotions. How long it takes one to manage them and move forward from is the variable.
It’s tricky to judge a trading choice accurately as a poor performance, but to also not internalize the negativity of that too much. To view the experience as a lesson and let the lesson serve you. Not drag you down, but become a brick in your foundation. The essence of the trauma of trading is there’s no way around it but to go through it.
Mindset is so huge in trading. You have to be in a positive and focused headspace to really read the market and trade with her. If you can’t do that, then you’re automatically starting out in the hole. The carryover negativity and doubt from previous losses, worrying, not sleeping the night before because you’re worried you are in a drawdown... You have to recognize that carry over, and really choose to direct your mind. Switch the narrative in your thoughts, but it has to be a purposeful action. It does not come naturally.
“We are not defined by when things are great, we are defined by the ability to pick up the pieces and keep moving forward when they’re not.”
— Eddie Pinero, Your World Within
We Market-Mamas choose to purposefully acknowledge our hard days. Clearly the lesson that the market humbled us again by serving up in response to our choices on a given day is something that we still need to work on. It was a lesson day.
When you’re working to build a trading career, every day becomes a brick in your foundation. There’s so many ways the day can go - easy or challenging, but either way it goes, you created and experienced. And your base is still building stronger. It’s so powerful to reshape a day no matter how it went and no matter what your P&L was at the end, there is a brick that is added to your building, your empire, from that trading session. A building’s foundation is not sexy. It’s the work, the dirt, the rocks, the concrete, it’s the bottom. Nobody pays much attention to that. Everyone is waiting for the beautiful lighting, fixtures, the big windows. What’s going to go inside this awesome building? But most people don’t think twice about the foundation once the building starts taking off. So when you’re having those really hard days, the blood, sweat, and tears, that’s your foundation. KEEP GOING!
There will be trauma in the learning years of trading. It’s just a part of the experience and growth process.
If you can persevere, it will get less traumatic!! Or at least less frequent. You can grow from the hard days - the key is to not quit and don’t forget to love yourself on the way. Lean on your people, listen to quality content, do something kind for yourself.