"The Wisdom of Yoga"
I am re-reading this very well-written book by Stephen Cope and am finding so much more meaning in it the second time around. It feels as if I am in a different place this time and this time he is talking to me. I like to understand stuff in a linear fashion (notwithstanding my moniker from IIT days), and Stephen does a great job of explaining step-by-step the entire history and philosophy behind yoga and meditation.
As I read about the War with Reality that our minds are constantly fighting and how hard it is to stay in the present moment, my mind flashed back to Van Tharp's ideas in "Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom". Van is talking about becoming a better investor/trader, but he comes to the same point repeatedly: If you want to be a good trader, you have to come to terms with winning and losing. You cannot love winning or hate losing so much that you lose sight of the trading process. Yes, it is the profits I want, but if I get too attached to them, I get thrown for a loop when the inevitable loss comes along. I start my War with Reality with that situation. I literally lose control of my mind. That is when all the trading issues researched and documented by the field of behavioral finance start surfacing.
The moral of the story? If you want to become a great (or even good) investor/trader, start meditating! Take control of your mind first, and trading excellence will follow. And that's precisely what I am going to do.
As I read about the War with Reality that our minds are constantly fighting and how hard it is to stay in the present moment, my mind flashed back to Van Tharp's ideas in "Trade Your Way to Financial Freedom". Van is talking about becoming a better investor/trader, but he comes to the same point repeatedly: If you want to be a good trader, you have to come to terms with winning and losing. You cannot love winning or hate losing so much that you lose sight of the trading process. Yes, it is the profits I want, but if I get too attached to them, I get thrown for a loop when the inevitable loss comes along. I start my War with Reality with that situation. I literally lose control of my mind. That is when all the trading issues researched and documented by the field of behavioral finance start surfacing.
The moral of the story? If you want to become a great (or even good) investor/trader, start meditating! Take control of your mind first, and trading excellence will follow. And that's precisely what I am going to do.
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