The Disease of The Mind

When we enter the markets, we aren't just spectators of events that unfold right before our very eyes. We are first and foremost, participants in a non-ending battle arena. And there are no allies nor are there friends, there is only you and the beast that is the market. But not everyone knows this. Most of us are taught from the very beginning, the fundamentals of loving beautiful beasts. That if you love these big, unfailing and mystical beasts long enough, you will be rewarded.

Dahil may forever... 

... sa friendzone.

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For those of you who want to know how much that trader has lost, it's around 1.1M. I know tons of traders and investors who have lost more. I've read countless of letters like these. And if there's one truth that the market tells us about these stories, it's Learn before you Earn. 

These losses don't become the dreadful numbers that they are overnight. They always start as a small, tolerable disease. And rather than finding a cure and dealing with it immediately, beginners let it run the course.

"Liit lang na paper loss to. Kaya pa."

Then one day, you find yourself paralyzed and in the verge of death. "I'd like to trade and learn. But it's too late for me to cut." So you accept your sorry position and leave everything to fate.

But it hasn't have to be this way.

Imagine for a second that traders are warriors. Do you think a warrior can fight effectively with a dreaded disease? Definitely not. The most they can do is spread the disease to the enemy - which is funny because this is what's happening to a lot of stock market communities. Damn. I've such a dark sense of humor.

Before one can learn how to fight properly, the disease must be stopped.

This is where the purge comes in. Purging isn't just selling everything in your bloody portfolio. It's also cleansing of the mind. Because trading isn't a physical game but a mental game. How can you move on if you are bringing a ton of emotional and mental baggage with you? 

Selling everything in your portfolio ensures you have nothing left in the physical and absolutely nothing to worry about in the markets. It's a painful process but it is necessary. 

And after clearing your portfolio, the next thing you'll have to deal with is bitterness. You know you were wrong. You were humbled by the markets and you paid the costly price of ignorance and falling prey to false gurus. But in order to move forward you will have to forgive yourself and accept where and what you currently have in the present. Forget about the losses you made. Face the markets once again as if it was your first day to see it.

From here, you are ready to learn how to fight. The only things you'll have to deal with are the bad habits you caught before you started purging - Listening to market gurus, rumors, tips, the reading of disclosures and news, and all your misconceptions of the markets and the fears from the scars you presently have.

Don't listen to those who can only talk. Don't fall for it again. For it is too easy to quote wisdom of old. Seek out people who can talk about winning and back them up by consistently showing you how they are made. 

And how would you know if you are right this time around and what you're learning isn't another disease? Here's a simple acid test: If what you learned makes you money, that is truth. If it doesn't, consider it cancer.