More success in trading. We all want it, and we’re often willing to try anything to achieve it. But sometimes the simplest things are what will make the biggest difference. And there is no more simplicity than what can be found in universal truths.
So here is one universal truth that can bring you more success in trading:
There is magic in gratitude.
You may have heard this before, but I’m not here to merely throw out some platitude. I’ve personally experienced its power, and want to tell you about the practical benefits of it. i.e. how it can bring you more success in trading.
What’s really going on
Stop and think about your thoughts and attitude towards the market right now. What are they like? Are they positive? Or are they angry… full of frustration, hate, and resentment? Given how much the market tests us and the fact that even when we become consistently profitable we still regularly experience losses, it would only be natural that a lot of our thoughts and attitudes about the market would fall into the latter camp. But what if we were to stop and actively change those thoughts to ones of gratitude?
What do you have to be grateful about when the market is causing you to struggle you may ask? How about the fact that without the market there would be no opportunity to seek one of the purest forms of financial independence. How about the fact that as the market tests you it’s pushing to evolve and become more of who you know you can be. How about the fact that it’s your greatest teacher, and your greatest ally in disguise. Are those enough reasons to be grateful?
How it all changes
When you recognize this and you start forming an attitude that is full of gratitude, your whole mindset shifts. Now you’re able to take setbacks in stride, knowing that there’s a deeper good in them for you. And you’re more positive during the trading day, which has been shown to be directly correlated with trading performance. And you don’t miss good trades while you’re too busy being resentful to notice them. And don’t tell me that hasn’t happened to you. It’s happened to all of us, and I’m the first one on that list.
So you see it’s not just some nice sounding platitude. Looking at the good in the market and being grateful for it shifts your whole mindset, and the more you practice it the more this mindset starts influencing your actions while trading. You sulk less, become more resilient, and see opportunities better. You start seeing the market as a friend that can give you so much, and this allows you to gradually stop fighting it and to open up your mind to see how you can understand it better. And your mind will get to work. Maybe it’ll lead you to study a new form of trading that is a better fit for you. Or maybe it’ll cause you to become more disciplined and not revenge trade. It’ll work beneath the surface non-stop to create a new trading reality for you based on your new thoughts.
You see this is how the mind works. And don’t think this is limited to trading. Try it with anything in your life that is causing you struggle. Find the good, and become grateful for it. Focus on that as much as you can, and you’ll see positive changes. Ultimately, it’s not really magic. It’s science. This is how the mind works. Now get busy using this universal truth.
