THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

The article is aptly named for it is the road that matters not the destination. And here is why:

Our brain, though incredibly complex, runs its basic functions on ancient and primitive brain circuits using the carrot and stick principle to motivate us to do some things and to demotivate us from doing other things.

That carrot and stick stimuli come in the form of pleasure and pain of varying strength, and the brain creates a dynamic map of the positive and negative stimuli and then our prefrontal lobes develop the best path to navigate this map. The map to success right? Well, kinda…

The thing is that if the map and the assigned values of the stimuli were fixed we would have all soon achieved whatever we desired in the moment and would have been ecstatic for the rest of our lives, but our brain is there to ensure survival and reproduction therefore, the stimuli value map is dynamic with the brain reducing the reward we get each time we do the same thing that we previously craved, with the exception of the few basic things vital for survival like food and reproductive activities.

Anyhow, just as with drugs the high is less and less potent form the same dose as the time goes by. So is the “high” form a certain level of success we reached. Happy at first, we will soon notice that the “kick” is no longer there, meaning that the values on the map have been reassigned and the brain is demanding that you set off on another quest to achieve yet even greater success.

That way you keep moving, and the final success is always just one step away, but just like the horizon with each step towards it, it makes one step away from you.

That is why we, as traders, need to appreciate the road itself too. Get joy from looking at the charts, finding patterns, learning new things and creating strategies. Without that, the life of a trader with its ups and downs, and constant stress will drive you nuts pretty soon…

Cheers to all of you, who enjoy the charts as much as I do, and thanks to Tradingview, for giving such a great platform for savouring each and every moment of it!