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The Intrinsic Rewards of Trading
It seems so easy: Find a good setup,
place a bet, close out the trade and take home the
profits. Enduring trading success is easier said than
done, however. Trading experts note that even those
traders who achieve early success don't maintain it.
It's easy to make a series of profitable trades early in
one's career; the difficulty is trading profitably day
after day, week after week, year after year. When it
comes to maintaining profitability over the long term,
one must look deep into one's psychological makeup and
ask and answer tough questions: Why am I trading? What
do I get out of it? Why should I continue to trade?
Seasoned traders know the answer to these questions:
Trading is intrinsically rewarding; it's a fulfilling,
enjoyable, and exciting. The experience of trading in
and of itself provides its own reward. The most
successful traders are so passionate about trading that
they would trade regardless of how much money they made
or how successful they were. For them, the intellectual
and creative activities involved in the trading process
constitute an optimal experience. They trade in a higher
sphere, and maintaining this peak performance mindset
ensures their lasting profitability.
Psychologists who
study the motives behind people's life pursuits have
discovered that optimal experiences are intrinsically
motivating. They are so engaging and interesting that
the mere act of doing them is enjoyable. The extrinsic
rewards, such as money or profits, are not nearly as
motivating. When people engage in an intrinsically
motivating task, they effortlessly focus all their
attention on that task, and achieve a level of
experience that is optimal. They don't worry about
success or failure, and they don't expect to receive any
reward or gain from the endeavor other than the
experience itself. They may desire a reward but they
don't need one. Emotions, such as fear, anxiety, and
self-reproach, don't even enter their consciousness. The
experience is so intense that they tend to be concerned
less with the final outcome, and more with the process
as they experience it.
Top-notch traders
report that they would work as a trader even if it were
a typical 9-to-5 job. They are passionate about trading.
They love the business and would do anything to be in
it. It's fun, enjoyable, and an intellectual challenge.
The more you can see the intrinsic rewards of trading,
the more you'll trade calmly and rationally. And in the
long run, the more profitably you will trade.
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