Does Meditation Work for your Trading?

No, you don't need to shave your head and move to some mountain in China for this -- nor would this cause you to start levitating as you do it. 

OK, fine, probably not all of you are thinking of that, but I certainly was when I first hear the word, "Meditation". 

In all seriousness, depending on one's culture and age, meditation could be tied to a variety of things, anywhere from religion to neuroscience. 

In recent years, the word meditation has picked up in popularity amongst traders. We tend to think that trading has a lot to do with psychology, and what's a good way to train the psyche for this? The best assumption here would be: 

Meditation

If that's the case, how should you meditate in a way that it works for your trading? 

In this blog, we will be looking at: 

1. Desire & Goals 
2. Connecting the Desire & Belief
3. Expectations 
4. How to Apply Meditation in your Trading. 

Introduction

In general, meditation is usually approached by two different angles -- from the point of view of science, or from religion.

Since we are clearly not here for that, we will be approaching it from the angle of Goal Visualisation / Manifestation. 

If you have been following our content, you would know that we generally like to work backwards. And so, before actually getting into meditation, let's talk about what you truly desire from trading. 

Otherwise, how else would you know what you want to visualise in your meditation?! 

1. Desire & Goals 

"How much money would you like to make?"
"A lot. Like a looooot!" 

There, right there, is the average person's answer to the question. What does 'A lot' actually mean? That lacks clarity, and without clarity, it will be very difficult to carve a path to reach the goal. 

Here's another example. 

"I want to make money to travel the world."

But when asked where they want to travel to, what hotel they want to stay, are they travelling business or economy, what food and activities they want to do there, and how much does all of that total up to, they often don't have that answer ready. 

With any goal or dream you have, all of the details and specifics have to be clear. Only then will you be able to work towards it with intention. 

 
Let me give you a list of questions that will perhaps help get you thinking of your trading goals. 

1. Are you trading because you love looking at the chart? Or are you using trading to reach a different life goal? 

2. Do you want to make a lot of money because society says you have to? Or do you actually need it? And if you do need it, how much exactly do you need? 

3. Let's say you want to provide a good life for your kids -- what does that mean? How much would it cost to get them into a good school? How much money would they need for their X-Box, tuition, private soccer training, Nikes sneakers, etc.? What's the number here?

Hopefully you get my point. Trading is closely linked to money, and you need to have a clear number in your head and know what that number is for. 

Remember:
You can't just go to the bank and say 'Give me a lot of money'; you still have to give them a number. 

2. Connecting the Desire & Belief

 
Once you have defined what your goals and desires are, let's move on to the next stage.

Let's use an example here to illustrate my point:

Let's assume that Joey's first goal with trading is to buy a Lamborghini. He is trading ferociously every day to make that happen. 

But every time he has some slight hiccups with his trading, he starts doubting.

He thinks:

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to get that Lamborghini, but if I do, wouldn't that be awesome!" 

Notice what just happened? 

There's a disconnect between his desire (Big Fancy Car) and his belief (Doubt in his Trading) 

The key word he used is "IF".

If we simply change that to "WHEN", it would be like this:

"I'm hitting a rough patch with my trading. But that's okay, I have to keep going. When I get that Lamborghini, it is going to be awesome!" 

Not sure about you but that sounds remarkably different. It's almost as though Joey is going to get his fancy car, it's just a matter of time. 

Now, I'm not saying you want to be overconfident, risking 10% on every trade, but you cannot let doubt drive a wedge between your desire and belief.

At the very least, start use the word "when" rather than "if" in your day-to-day life. 

3. Expectations 

Building on the previous two points, you need to have expectations. Expect that your goals are going to happen, and that it's just a matter of time. Call it the Law of Attraction, Manifestation or any mumbo jumbo you'd like, this will indirectly help you reach your goals quicker than anyone else. 

Here's something that all of us do, and goes with what I'm talking about.

Have you ever ordered something from Amazon? Here's generally what happens: 

Step 1. Look for an item 
Step 2. Purchase it
Step 3. Receive the item 

Now, between Step 2 and Step 3, we are pretty much just expecting that one day soon, our doorbell will ring and the item will be at the front door.

In other words, we are believing / expecting that in some way, shape or form, we will receive it. 

If we apply this on Joey, it would be something like this: 

Step 1. Learn a good trading strategy 
Step 2. Start taking trades 
Step 3. Lamborghini in the garage 

(Yes I'm aware that that sounds ridiculous as I'm writing this LOL)

Of course, you'll still need to master the strategy and trade with discipline. And it's going to take some time. 

What I'm trying to get at here is that even with the right education, if deep down you are not expecting your dream to be achievable,

It's just going to be a dream. 

4. How to Apply Meditation In your Trading

Now that you are absolutely certain of what your desire, belief and expectation are from trading, you are ready to meditate with intention. The intention is what's going to make the difference. 

You can break your meditation practice into two aspect -- one for The End Goal, the other for The Process.

The way you approach the practice for both is similar. Let's take meditation about the end goal as an example for Joey (and his Lamborghini). 

As he meditates, he will be engaging all of his sense, visualising in his head as he steps into the car: 

1. The feeling of grabbing onto the steering wheels. (Touch)
2. Hearing how the engine sounds like as he starts the car. (Hearing)
3. The smell of the new leather seats. (Smell)
4. How proud he will feel owning that car. (Emotion)

An example of meditating for the Process of Trading would go something like this: 

1. Calmly analysing the market.
2. Planning ahead what you will be trading. 
3. Visualising what will happen in the market that will trigger your entry. 
4. How you will react if things don't go your way. 

Personally, I do this once in the morning, and once again before bed. You can do the same, but like any habit, I suggest start with doing this once a day and as you get more comfortable, do it twice or even three time a day.

Try to keep things simple and not think about too many things at once. To make things clearer, here's an example of how you shouldn't be meditating: 

Raju indeed is one of a kind isn't he? LOL

Conclusion

If you have been on the sidelines with meditation, I hope I at least got you to think about starting it. Or, at the very least, gave you an idea of how closely desire, belief and expectation are linked to each other, and there cannot be any disconnect. 

If you are up for it, try meditating with intention for a few weeks. By doing so, you will be training yourself to act with intention with whatever you are doing, and will not be leaving anything up to chance.

Take Control. 

With Pip Love, 
Lucas
Urban Forex Team