The Human Element of Trading
In this article I am going to, (hopefully) open you up to an aspect of trading that is ignored by most traders: The human element of trading isn’t so much about facing up to the fact that you may not be infallible in your eyes, heavens forbid, rather it is about understanding the synergy between your “beingness” as a human and how you experience the human condition, including trading as an integral part of oneness, as the Buddhists would call it.
“Human condition, trading, oneness, what’s it all about?” you may well ask: It is all about your perception of life. The real issues people have whenever they hit a trading roadblock, or have difficulty learning a new trading skill is not, I repeat NOT about learning a new skill, or how they deal with transition periods in their trading, in the final analysis it is always about HOW THEY DEAL WITH LIFE.
The Advent of Logical Thinking
You are not suddenly a different person whenever you trade
The Cartesian age of reason, of Rene Descartes, has been the underpinning of a world view that ruled our existence since the latter part of the 17th century. The move away from the mythic stage of human development into the “concrete operational stage (Kuebler Ross, also explained in The Buddhist Trader in detail) awakened humanity to the merits of science away from the glorification of the inexplicable nature of life. All of a sudden we became aware that we actually do know more than we allowed ourselves to know until now. Well, perhaps not quite, as you will discover.
The advent of the age of reason made us compartmentalise life.
Linear, logical thinking replaced the mythic thinking which had us giving our power over to some saint, or some other magical source outside ourselves over which we have no control.
The new logical thinking meant that we could compartmentalize the process of life and the process of thinking. All of a sudden we are in control, or so it appears. The linear, repeatable experiments science pursues in an attempt to reveal the workings of our reality have become the mainstay of life. We believe if we have solid truth.
Law of Oneness
There are only two issues with this approach:
1) Life does not unfold in a linear fashion as experienced by the casual observer.
2) The universe is not solid.
Compartmentalising life, as we have done over the last 300 years or so, actually flies in the face of universal law. I am talking about the law of oneness.
Invisible to the human eye, a mental “no entry” sign bars the logical mind from accessing the subtle energy layers which precede all creation of reality. This has fooled us into some pretty amazingly stupid misconceptions.
I say “stupid” with conviction because once you get how we are creating challenges in our (trading) lives through a few simple misperceptions, you cannot help but marvel at what is going on in the untrained human brain which feeds of drama and rejects simplicity.
The mind’s need for drama is a clear sign that the amygdala, the ancient part of the brain where emotion resides, is perhaps more important to our overall well being then generally appreciated: Humans need emotions. We cannot function without them. Emotions are energy and the exchange of energy with information creates reality.
Emotions are omnipresent. They are a vital factor in our life as humans and cannot be switched off when you pursue certain tasks, like trading.
Traders and Transference
Psychology talks about a phenomenon called transference:
Transference is the tendency for humans to transfer one behaviour in one area of life to another part of life. For example: If you have a habit of walking away from an argument, this habit will somehow express itself in your trading. You might close positions too early. On the other hand, if you thrive in arguing your case, you might find that you have difficulties getting out of positions.
Patterns appear in nature and in life.
They are not unique to any particular aspect of life, but repeat and are all present in all stages of evolution. This makes them impersonal, alas not necessarily easy to recognize for an untrained mind. Yet, the human brain is wired to recognise patterns. Alas, since patterns do not appear in exactly the same form, but in infinite varieties and fractals, they often go undetected by the logical part of the brain.
Transference is a clear indication of the underlying oneness of life, which we have abandoned in favour of “reason”. You cannot get away from oneness, since it is always present in everything we do and you can learn to notice it.
Trading with your Emotional Baggage
Traders, investors, trade with separation in mind.
When it is time to trade, we open the chest of drawers called: “Trading”. There is a drawer called “Discipline”, there is a drawer called “Focus” and a drawer called “Risk Management”, and so on. I am sure you are getting the picture.
You think there are clear delineations, a giant illusion. The drawer still is in your trading room and the drawers are part of the chest of drawers, just as the room is still part of the house, and the house is part of the foundation it stands on. I could go on. Are you getting where we are going with this?
Here, you are, assuming the role of trader, switching yourself of from all the other aspects of life, believing that your are “focusing” on the job. It simply cannot be done. In attempting to operate like this you are putting immense strain on your entire body and mind. Your mind is on coalition course with universal law. Your mind is attempting to do something which your higher self knows is not only limiting you, but is also setting you up for failure. You are capable of much more than you give yourself permission for.
Knowing Yourself and Reap Rewards
True, you need focus, discipline and motivation to trade consistently well…
However, what you need more than anything else is a sound understanding and grounding in the knowledge of what it means to be a sprit having a human experience.
When I say “spirit”, I am referring to that part of you that is non – local, that permeates everything in existence, and that is eternal. It is that aspect of you that has access to information and transforms “the field” , meaning brings about change.
Science is revealing its own limitations
The neuro scientist Mark Waldman recently referred to a very interesting study comparing the impact of scientific knowledge on feeling “safe” versus spiritual knowledge on feeling “safe”. Feeling safe is a prerequisite for change. Spiritual knowledge clearly triumphed. To me, as someone who has spent decades learning about the nature of spirituality, it is clear why this is so:
Spirituality is the essence of life. It is the non changing, eternal substance, for the want of a better word, that transcends conditioned, limited thinking and gives us access to the inner realm of power. This power is in all of us all of the time.
There is nothing, but human erroneous thinking, that says we must work harder in order to trade better. We don’t need to work harder, we need to understand the right knowledge better.
That is an in depth understanding of universal law and self knowledge acquired through the deep appreciation of how the entire universe functions and what holds it together.
Everything, absolutely everything in existence emanates from this knowledge. Isn’t it time that you stopped putting the cart in front of the horse and began to focus on what really matters?
As someone who has walked the path I cannot tell you how your trading journey will unfold, but I can tell you that it will work its magic for your trading and for your life in many surprising and amazingly loving ways, if you are prepared to invest the time to immerse yourself in this knowledge.
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