The path to enlightenment can be a very prosperous one

March 01, 2016
Jess
Zen

As an avid trader and blogger, I’m often asked how a staunch believer in peace and tranquillity can overcome the hustle and bustle of the market news that so many others find all too stressful. While I may not sit in the lions’ den of the trading floor or spend all my time engrossed in the latest speculation about the price of gold or reading the latest bitcoin news on why I should sell my assets and invest in crypto-currencies, I do find myself succumbing to the stresses of the job at times.

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Whenever there is an element of risk to something you are doing, there is always going to be an appetite for worry and stress, but it is your ability to control this that can make you successful in both trading and life itself. Predicting whether the price of something is going to go up or down in any given period can be easily managed with some simple stress relieving exercises and while there is nothing that can guarantee you will be making the correct choice, the ability to let go of the frustration when you don’t is paramount to the overall aim of turning a gross profit after multiple trades.

For example: Having read the latest market news, I decide to go and place a trade that the price of Oil is likely to increase over the next hour. Regardless of whether I am correct in my assumption or not, if I lose my first trade and dwell on it without letting go of my emotions, I may miss a follow-up opportunity to place a subsequent trade on the price that recovers my initial investment or provide me a combined gross profit over the two trades. If I find a way to control my initial ire and rationally work out my next move, I regain my advantage and give myself a better chance to do well against the markets. While this doesn’t then guarantee my day will be a success, it does give me a much better chance of it going my way.

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There are actually multiple books and sites that speak in depth about this practice, offering tips and tricks on how to be a better trader, but the long and short of it is down to the same simple stress relieving techniques that we have talked about above, most of which can be found echoed in the ideals of Buddhism. We aren’t of course referring to the ideal of trading on the markets, but that of Samadhi and Prajna, two of the three trainings. While they may not always give me assured success in my daily forex dabbling, they have certainly helped me keep my losses to a minimum and my gains refreshingly often.

Check out more of our latest articles or read our Zen section for more tips on stress relief.