Insanity truly is a full-time job. On so many levels.
- Making mistakes over and over again will keep you busy all day long. Without desired results. So you keep on repeating and spending more time, energy, and focus on something that is likely to fail again.
- Full-time trading is overkill. Sure there are traders that live for being glued in front of their computer screen 24 hours a day, 5 days a week, and perhaps even keeping busy somehow with analyzing trades on the weekend. It is fun for sure. When I first go into trading that's how it was for me. BUT and this is a biggie, in my opinion, it's like a sport. You don't want to over-exhaust yourself and play Badminton 4 hours per day, lift weights 4 hours a day, and then go for a 20K run. Every day. Your body needs rest. So does your mind. And if you get hooked on a sport, say running, and you love that runner's high, you can get away with running every day for a while but soon enough your body will tell you that you need to pace yourself. Run every other day. Or just run a little every day but rest once or twice a week. Sometimes your body (and your mind!) needs rest every couple months for a week or two. So don't overtrade. Pace yourself. Sports may be a "healthy" addiction, Trading is not. Either way even healthy addictions can bite you in the ass. Do everything in moderation.
- A full-time job does drive me insane. I just don't have the time and energy to deal with all the b.s. for little pay. Or even great pay for that matter. Making $200,000 / year is great. But if it doesn't fit your lifestyle and you are not happy then you are going to insane trying to fit in and "ride it out". Sure in 5 years you have made a million, and in 10 years you will have saved a million from the 2 million you made. BUT life has gone by and you will never get that time back. If you are unhappy and rich, you are still unhappy. If you are happy then it doesn't matter how much you make, every day is a gift, and you realize that you don't need much to survive. I have learnt this the hard way but now I am in Thailand living it. Don't get me wrong, I still make good money, I don't make $200,000 a year. Because I don't need it. I make more than I need to live. If I want to go to Europe then I just make the money I need and then go. It's similar to planting a garden. Why plant more than you can eat? Sure you'll have some extras to give to neighbours but why plant a field of Basil when you just need a couple bushes.
- Lifestyle. Sit back and ask yourself "Why was I born?" "What is life's purpose?" "What makes me happy?" "Where do I want to be in 1 year, 3 years, 5 years?" "When it's time for me to move on and leave this world, what will I look back on?" Chances are you don't think working is your life's mission. My motto is "Work to live, not live to work!"
- Not all day's can be sunny days. You are going to drive yourself insane thinking you need to trade every day. Life isn't all sunshine and lollipops. There will be rain, there will be bad weather, life will happen. So don't expect to be trading every day. The sun is brightest after darkness. Find other things to do on "rainy days".
....to be continued
