the-daily-trading-coach-101-lessons-for-becoming-your-own-trading-psychologist-brett-steenbarger-_2009_-a23

68 THE DAILY TRADING COACHdeal of things to different people; my experience is that it is only weaklycorrelated with how hard traders actually work at their craft. Traders whoare desperate for profits, traders who approach markets addictively likegamblers, traders who live and breathe markets 24/7: all may claim a specialpassion for what they do. These passions may or may not support goodtrading and a positive learning curve. Desire and motivation are necessary,but not sufficient, for trading success.Rather than focus on passion, traders would do well to reflect uponthe overall emotional tone of their market experience. In researching andtrading markets, as well as working on trading skills, do you experiencemeaningful happiness, contentment, and motivation? Are you truly enjoyingwhat you’re doing?This positive side of emotional experience is what psychologists referto as psychological well-being. A person with high well-being experiencesthe following on a frequent basis: A positive mood (happiness). Favorable expectations (optimism). A positive physical state (energy). A positive appraisal of self and life (fulfillment). Favorable relations with others (affection).None of us feel all of these things all of the time; indeed, many of thesefive factors may wax and wane depending upon life circumstances. Still,psychological research suggests that some of us experience significantlymore well-being than others. A portion of this variation can be attributedto inborn personality traits that are present across a range of life circumstances.Other variations can be attributed to our environment, especiallythe degree to which our settings satisfy or frustrate our needs and affirmor contradict our values.Much of psychological well-being is a function of the fit between aperson and her social and work environments.When people are chronically unable to experience positive emotions,we might suspect the presence of an emotional disorder, such as theform of depression known as dysthymia. Other emotional problems, includinganxiety disorders, can be sufficiently pervasive as to prevent peoplefrom experiencing joy and life satisfaction. In such circumstances,it is important for people to seek the assistance of an experienced, licensedmental health professional. Many times, very hands-on approachesto therapy—sometimes in concert with medication—can make a huge differencewhen chronic problems interfere with positive life experience. Youdon’t need to be actively depressed—crying, unable to get out of bed,