Yeah the gym helps me focus -- get really intune with the weights and muscle contractions. For traderNik it's golf -- where he can really, really focus on his balls... lol. sorry. couldn't resist
cheese, cheese... too bad that before reacting, you didn't go back and read the original post on this thread. Where in there does he say anything about a passport to success or lalaland mind preparation? Where did I say that? Ah yes, just as I thought, you didn't re-read the original post, did you? He simply asked if anyone had an experience of meditation, as a tool for improving performance. You immediately replied from your preconceptions and your prejudices. Also too bad that you couldn't be bothered to actually read my post before responding. If you had, you would have seen that I explicitly stated that "money has been lost by newbs who don't learn the fundamentals". So your whole reply is essentially pointless. Let's continue to tear apart your latest post Again, you seem to be responding to a dialogue in your head, not to my post. I said explicitly that bad decision making by people who know better (by those who have learned what they are supposed to be doing) afflicts just as many 'pro' traders and other competent market participants as badly prepared newbs. It may be just on certain days, in certain markets, or it may be systemic to their trading. Anything any trader can do to eliminate even one of these mistakes is a positive thing. Furthermore, my point was that there are hundreds of ways to trade the markets and a lot of newbs don't have a bad idea, they just have bad execution and bad trade management, which for newbs trading 100 share lots often comes down to 'honour your own stops' and 'don't revenge trade' and 'try to see the big picture' and 'stick to your game plan' Do professional athletes use psychologists to help them do the equivalent? Cheese? Do they? Is that all mumbo-jumbo too? Cheesy? Cheeseball? Every one of us makes sub-optimal decisions. You make a sub-optimal decision every time you decide to enter into debate with me, right? If someone says 'I am going to try this or that technique in order to improve my decision making', the last thing we need is prejudiced, closed-minded, shallow thinkers like you muddying the waters. Trying to improve yourself isn't dishonourable or superstitious. It's an honourable thing to do, no matter what you try. If meditation helps someone, what's your problem? I ask again - what is your problem? Who the f**k cares what you think about it? All of this begs the question - what have you done to try to improve yourself? Not much, I bet. Because it's all bullshit, right? Errrr... yeah, okay cheese. That's highly original. Holy jesus, cheese. This is so obviously wrong that I am suspecting you of baiting me! Yes, mental errors have never been made by people who knew better (knew enough). I can't even respond to this last piece of cheese.
I recently read a book named "Intelligence" who was written based on a series of interviews on Osho (Rajneesh). The guy proposes that people are born intelligent but society slowly but effectively fills you with fear and greed destroying your intelligence. Osho says that society has always rejected intelligent people and those who think different, calling them crazy or in some cases crucifying them or make them drink poison. Society prefers someone stupid and docile so you can easily blend in the herd. Osho (who was a very controversial figure) states that is through meditation how people can recover their lost intelligence, and get rid of all the trash and stupid ideas that society has put in your mind. The point of the book that I found more interesting is that he separates mind from soul, saying that mind is a beautiful tool but you are not your mind, you are your soul. He said that mind is like a radio that is always turned that doesn't let you listen your soul. He says that is through meditation how you can turn off your mind and start hearing your soul. I have started in meditation and what I have found useful is that it improves my capacity of concentartion for longer periods of time (something good for our job) and helps me dealing with anxiety, who can also screw many trades by not letting me roll my profits. Yogi Berra said that 90% percent of the game is mental and the other half (sic) physical. In trading I think that no matter how much you know about economics, technical analysis, stocks, futures, etc. if you are not prepared mentally you are not going to go very far.
Cheese, don't confuse intellectuality with intelligence, something Osho differentiates nicely in the book. You can memorize all the books about trading in the world, you can know a lot about economy, but that doesn't make you an intelligent person. A parrott can also repeat stuff and it doesn't make it smart. Intellectuality and Intelligence are something very different. "The intelligent person behaves according to the situation, and the stupid behaves according to the ready-made answers, he always carries "scritures". The intelligent person depends on his own insight. He trusts his own being". Osho
bunch of nonsense but had a real effect. Funny how people have this need to disparage this or that system of thought, even if it has provably positive effects, and especially when it is essentially harmless to the disparager. Sure, 0.005% of people who go down this road get involved in cults or whatever; so what? It's like saying dieting is no good because look at all the anorexics! Why wouldn't they just say 'hey, that's great that it worked for you'? Why say that it's nonsense, especially when someone posts and says "This was not nonsense for me - in fact it helped me". Sure, maybe it's not the meditation itself that helped but some other part of the exercise... but who cares? Why do people have this need to disparage something that had a net positive effect? The fact is, the attitude of intolerance and intellectual hauteur that engenders this kind of useless post is way more harmful than someone trying meditation as a means to increase personal productivity. People are strange....
All that is needed for ignorance to suceed is for wise men to say nothing "The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind." -- H. L. Mencken
Funny; in the end, it seems that your belief system is also faith-based! Who'd a thunk it? But then, it's kind of like the televangelists who eventually get busted on a vice charge. Methinks thou doth protest too much. Mencken is rolling in his grave at this misuse of his words.
I have never recommended reading books about trading . Neither the words 'intellectuality' or 'intelligence' are in my comments. You are debating with yourself.