%% Good shots. WOW; 9-15 miles thats 3-5 hours/+ Wisdom is profitable to direct; work is not LIFE but part of it. Enjoy ,30-06. , .22, .38/357 magnum......................................................................................
Interesting dilemma by OP. Most traders that talk to want to get a consistent level of trading, and achieve solitude, quit their job and then be left alone. Yet, you get there and you are 1% of the lucky ones, and you question your self again. Maybe that is the definition of real success. Never settle. Maybe success in trading is born way before trading. We need to work on habits, goals, and planning in every aspect and bring those habits to trading.
I was just chatting about my five year plan in a PM. Bought a five year call on property and let me tell you that it’s motivating AF.
Share the same feeling all the time. Frankly by now profit/loss are just numbers and I don't feel I add any value to society. That said, I am OK to keep doing it as long as I still enjoy it. I am full time but swing trade so actual screen time (trading time) is not much, most of my time were spent reading, researching, analyzing, backtesting... I should spend more time volunteer for charity and contribute more to charity.
In my house, we are very conscious of not throwing things away and instead give it to charities, whether an old computer, furniture, clothes, etc. It feels awful to throw away things when someone less fortunate can use them. Anyone can do that and its a good start.
Ok since everyone is telling stories. I have a regular hour consulting job. But no commute and flexible. I can be working 1 or 10 hours a day depending on the projects. My lazy style trading takes 5 minutes a day. Just to see if my pro boys are doing anything major. Other than that. Lots of time with family. Taking care of the kids needs. Watching them compete. One is a top 20 debater. Another is a professional gamer. So proud of them to have both reached the very top of what they do. The rest of the time is for hobbies. Too many of them depending on the season. Tennis. Golf. Motorcycle riding street and dirt. Motorcycle repairs and custom builds and a few secondary ones. Once you have 2-3 hobbies you go deep in there will never be enough time. Eg once you start riding you will realize there are so many places that are must-go. But I understand what op talked about. There can be moments of lacking direction. All it takes to fix is really just go out there try stuff. And your natural tendencies will take over and tell you where your passion is.
You're young in your mid 40's but you do not mention your family. Therefore, I will assume you're single and living alone. What motivates me would motivate me if I worked as a store clerk at a grocery store or if I worked as a lawyer in corporate law... My family is my motivation as in I have children that are dependent upon me to get them into their adult years so that they can live on their own. Lets pretend I do not have a family nor dependents, if the quest to make money from the markets is not motivation enough for you...you should close your trading accounts. While you're at it...if you have another job...call your employer and tell them you quit...you don't need that weekly or monthly pay check because you engineers, medical professionals, journalists and even hedge fund managers doing these amazing things. I bet after you close your trading accounts and quit your day job...you'll get motivate fast when its time to pay your mortgage, buy food to eat, pay for your kids medical/dental insurance & expenses and when you need some cash for anything else (e.g. vacation, medical bills, hobbies, donations, cable TV bill, cell phone bill or whatever)... You'll find the motivation to continue being profitable and/or use your profits to discover a new passion in life. wrbtrader
I'll ( SOON ! ) consider Full Time trading as Retired, as no work stress, no meetings, no people to manipulate into my way of thinking and manage expectations off ( Systems Programmer ) Then it's a hobby I'll do, for a few hours as possible to pay for my retirement, but it isn't actually doing anything other than moving money from others to me, so I see your issue, I used to like the above hassle but at 48, getting tired of it all. Mountain Bike, Gym, Woman and kids when ever I've had enough for that day. Maybe you need a few years in the real world, Part time Job, trade 2 or 3 days per week, then do a job you'd like in between ?? It won't pay aswell as trading hence keep trading along side. It's an issue, we'd all like
ktmtrader, Congraluations on becoming a consistent profitable trader. Well, I am not a consistent profitable trader yet. I still work full time job, full time father, part time trader and studying practice trading in my spare aviable time. I enjoy hunting and excersising, but trading sort of takes over both at times. Go get a family man and kids, I bet that motivate you. If you don't have $5 Million in the bank, then you need to get busy. Go find a hobby.
i think you got the rich people bug, Where in making money does not seem like the best thing to do or it no longer provides the satisfaction or serves a purpose. You should take hiatus from trading and go and check out the rest of the world, like the really poor down trodden part of the world and may be volunteer or sponsor a project or something that might prove really beneficial for both parties involved. there is a famous quote “Man is the most puzzling creation" Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”