Enjoy Trading and Enjoy Life

Posted by Nick Niesen on November 8th, 2010

I speak to traders that spend every waking hour focused on trading. While this may be fine for some it is not for me, I know this because I used to be that guy. I originally became interested in trading because I dreamed of being rich and having the time to do what ever I wanted. I have a compulsive nature to begin with and I hunger for knowledge. This combination led me to work constantly, to learn more about trading. I maintained a full time job and studied trading strategy at night, often until midnight only to get up the next day at 4:30 A.M. to go to work. Studying the markets were a 7 day a week thing for me. This went on for a couple of years.

From time to time I would personally meet other traders and met some through the net. Over time I noticed that some traders did not obsess over trading the way I did. Most did but a handful did not.I thought that one day if I worked hard enough I would be like them. Then one day I met a man that changed my thinking. Through our discussions about trading I realized that he started about the same time as myself. He did not have as much experience as I had and it was apparent that his knowledge of the markets was not as extensive as myself.

The curious thing was that he traded only 2 hours per day and did not work any other job. The rest of his time he played golf and spent time with his family. I questioned him in hope that he would share his secret trading formula with me. To my surprise he did not have a secret weapon for trading markets. Instead he had a secret weapon for life in general. ENJOY IT!! That day I realized that I had lost sight completely of my original goal which was to have more time. I had ran completely in the opposite direction. Instead of trading freeing from a job it had become more of a job than my actual job was. My percentage of winning trades was not where I wanted it to be and thought that I could study my way to a better percentage.

After talking with him I decided to take a break from trading and come back with a new perspective. When I again started to trade I only allowed myself to spend 2 hours per day on trading. I was much more relaxed and I traded less often. This turned out to be great, my win percentage went up because I was more selective in my trades and I was not stressed out about everything. Today I enjoy life much more and trading is what I thought that it could be.... Thanks Robert

Remember there is alot more to life than trading. Life is to short to spend every hour looking to make the next great market move. What if that next move doesn't occur in your lifetime, then what have you gained. Trading is wonderful and I do love it but I'm not going to sacrifice my life and the happiness of those I love for it. I have a life I fully intend to enjoy it.