Over the past few years, I have seen many people pass away that I knew well that were still only in their 40′ s or 50’s. It has been almost 8 years since one of my favorite Facebook friends passed away suddenly. The thing I have come to realize after having my 40th birthday, is that we do not know at 40 if we will live another 40 years, or if we have only a few years left on this earth. Even the young are not promised tomorrow; accidents can take any of us at any time. I believe life is too short to be unhappy, stressed, or miserable. Every day, we should strive to enjoy laughter, our friends, our family, our life’s work, hobbies, and our life.
So the question is “WHY ARE YOU TRADING”? Trading in itself is a great game, but not an end unto itself. The reason why we trade may very well be to the determinant of our success. Do we trade for freedom? Early retirement? To pay off our house 20 years early? To avoid getting a ‘real’ job? Or do we think trading for a living will be a Nirvana compared to the 9-5 job we have now? The degree of passion we have about the “why” of our trading will give us the fuel to work until we have the “how” to be successful. Most importantly, we need make sure that trading is a healthy pursuit that helps us value what is most important. Our family and friends should be the most important thing in our lives, higher on our list than pursuits that mean little in the big picture. Trading should point us towards happiness. If not, what is the point?
“Our goal should be to always move towards happiness and search for our own bliss.”
This post is dedicated to the memory of my friend David Gillie, comic genius, trader, and writer for “ETF Digest”, who brought many laughs and great camaraderie to me personally, and to my facebook trading group. He really showed me how to have fun, and be who I am with no apologies. Rest in peace my friend, well done.
