THE SELF-ESTEEM FACTOR
The boredom problem for the intelligent trader is complicated by an additional factor. Most educated people are conditioned to link their self-esteem to their intelligence, and not just their passive intelligence but to their active intelligence. So, if a trader with this background is not actively using his intelligence to tinker, he begins to lose his sense of self-worth. In fact, since he probably defines himself through his intelligence, his sense of who he is and what he has to contribute will suffer when he feels that he is not using his intelligence.
Self-esteem is a necessary ingredient for successful trading because it is the basis for self-confidence. Traders need self-confidence to stay disciplined and focused as they trade and they need confidence to handle the losses that are built into their trading system. So, when a tinker trader stops tinkering, not only does he get bored, he begins to sabotage his system and stops trading well because he loses confidence.
So, what is a bored and unhappy tinker trader to do?
Get Trading on Target: How to Cultivate a Winner's State of Mind now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
