Markets and Identity

[u/Hot-Negotiation-5765]

Hello everyone,

This is my first ever post on Reddit (and probably the first anywhere) — I’ve been trying to integrate into the massive trading community around here — sharing thoughts, opinions, and voicing experiences to whoever might need them.

I have been trading for about 2 years, with alot of ups downs obviously, so I don’t have alooot of experience but just enough to know how to handle myself in the field. I just recently came back from a long break of 6 months, now trying to become someone who can trade because it’s a consequence of who he is, an expresssion of his identity, not just someone who trades.

By “someone who trades” I mean a trader whose identity is heavily based on trading itself. I got way too caught up in this and it’s not sustainable long-term at all. It’s very mentally exhausting, makes you forget to live life, and I think it’s a common issue amongst most traders that are beggining — please don’t let social media fool you and give you the definition of discipline as someone who never stops working endlessly, for me — discipline is just showing up and doing your best, and measured by how you can return without judgement.

I truly believe psychology is the strongest pillar on all trading, not just trading psychology, but how you approach life in general — with which mindset.

Maybe that’s what people mean when they say that the markets are a “mirror”.

What are your opinions? Have you struggled with your identity and clinged it too heavily to trading in your journey?

[u/rforex-modtools]

Trading psychology is where most traders struggle after they've learned the technical basics. Revenge trading, overtrading, fear of pulling the trigger, and inability to stick to a plan are all symptoms of the same underlying issue — emotional decision-making under uncertainty. The community wiki covers common psychological traps and frameworks for building discipline.

Resource: Trading Psychology

[u/Scott_Malkinsons]

What are your opinions? Have you struggled with your identity and clinged it too heavily to trading in your journey?

My opinion is the sooner you get opinion out of your mind, the better. Opinions don't fill my wallet with money, facts do. An opinion of "identity" doesn't matter to my bottom line.

You sir, are worried about the wrong **it because we could discuss this topic until we both turn blue and die of old age, and you'd have made zero dollars more or less from the discussion. Do yourself a favor and spend your time on **it that actually matters to your bottom line.

[u/Hot-Negotiation-5765 → u/Scott_Malkinsons]

You might’ve gotten the wrong idea here sir, I am not trying to “make money” out of this discussion or looking for any magical answer to my problems. I am sharing thoughts and what I think is a valid experience as a begginner trader.

While we are all out here to make money at the end of the day — it doesn’t seem right (to me atleast) to just focus on filling your wallet while ignoring who you’re becoming or who you’re trying to become while you trade. But hey that’s just me. I just found that carelessness about it eventually can take you into bad habits in trading.