More thoughts on TTC 3

Thinking about those words, "Weaken your ambitions. Strengthen your essence." led me tonight to a new way of thinking about trading. Rather than focusing on how much $$ I reap in during a given time period, I could instead focus on strengthening my trading capabilities. Like the idea of becoming a better fisherman, instead of counting how many fish each day, and then naturally I'll catch more fish. Or instead of counting how many points I might score if I were a basketball player, I can instead focus on becoming a better player, and then naturally the points will come in ...

Someone recommended to me a book, David Payne's 'Confessions of a Taoist Monk on Wall Street'. Perhaps this winter I'll have a chance to get and read that. You know, energetically, winter is a time of pulling in one's resources; it is a good time for education, strengthening one's inner essence.

Another friend wrote these comments to me:
"You mentioned Brett Steenbarger, the author of two books on trading (the psychology of trading and enhancing trader performance). He writes about using meditative programs on his computer (was it hemisync or something like that). I think we all know that we trade better when we're calmer and more present. Buddhists or Taoists would suggest that is throuygh the quietening of the mind we become more aware of both our bodies and the senses they give us and become more in touch with our higher selves which in their turn are far more aware and linked in than us unenlightened ones can manage.

"Through this I would assume that we are more in tune with the universe and hence the market as well as banishing that egoic need to be doing something when waiting is better. Has anyone tried any of these meditation machines at all? I'm curious as to views. [note, I'm curious too]

"I sometimes think that trading with the battering that the ego takes in the early days can be a part of the path to enlightenment as you learn to remove ego from the outcome of your trades or quit trading presumably. I rarely pat myself on the back now for lucky/ successful trades for example as I'm too aware how that can lead to too large risk taking and painful losses. I still struggle with my reaction to losses, but find now that I write a line under each day and then each week and move on the effect of bad days is lessened (and is probably useful in starting the the next yang phase of account expansion with luck).

"One book I've read in part, not a trading book but I found interesting was called "The Zone" written by a golf coach forwarded by James Redfield of Celestine Prophecy fame, where he examines 10 steps to setting yourself up for those zone like experiences where the ball plays itself, or in our case the trade trades itself. His proposition is that whilst we cannot force these by calming our mind, eating and sleeping well, etc (there's a lot more of course) we encourage the situation where these occur."