Addicted to trading ?

Trading is often about how to take the appropriate risk without exposing yourself to very human flaws.
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Derek27
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Hi All,

Having endured 24 hours of not trading on Christmas day, I looked at the forum and realised I'm not the only one suffering the withdrawal symptoms. So I thought I'd raise the questions, is trading addictive and is there such thing as a harmless, or even a positive addiction, such as, an addiction to something you are successful at ?
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northbound
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Life is not worth living unless you find something to die for.

Obsessions and addictions are good, especially the ones with potential to make you money, such as trading.

From my experience, people that tell you otherwise are usually boring people that never say anything interesting. Linear thinkers. The ones that never take risks. Afraid of LIVING, afraid of DYING.

I consider myself lucky to have an obsession with trading, because it keeps me alive.
spreadbetting
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I'd guess for most people on here it's just a few spare hours on a Sunday afternoon rather than the fact they've gone cold turkey for a few days :)

Can't imagine any addictions are healthy, an addiction implies you're always searching that uncontrollable urge for instant gratification whether it's the thrill of the chase or highs/lows of gambling. I've always seen trading as a means to an end rather than something I crave. I think when you first start trading it does get all consuming as you see the possibilities and have hundreds of ideas churning thru your head. But once you've found your winning strategies it's like Peter's said on many occasions it becomes hard to resist the lure of a fruit machine that always pays out especially if there's no better option at the time.

Trading's certainly not something I'd want to die for.
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ShaunWhite
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I deliberately haven't had a single trade for 2 weeks. I was seriously overtrading anything and everything. First 3 days were a bit tough but feel much more in control and refocused now. Bit nervous about resuming as I feel a bit rusty but that should fade pretty quickly. It's been good catching up on some reading and spreadsheeting that was being neglected. I'm still 'addicted' to trading and that's a good thing, you need to love what you do, but not addicted to clicking the mouse for the buzz as this last two weeks have hopefully shown.
maycontainnuts
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Trading is all about patience and waiting for a trade. So if you are addicted thats probably not a great thing.
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Dallas
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There is a fine line between being addicted and being passionate and I would tend to agree being addicted is not ideal

Peter is one of the few I know that has always remained committed while still being able to manage his valuable family time.
Trading is lonely enough without alienating yourself further from those your closest to
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Derek27
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I suppose it's a question of whether you are addicted to the act of trading or the success/thrill it brings.

I take comfort in the fact that many of the worlds best guitar players were probably addicted to playing it. I don't know if it's true, but I heard Jimi Hendrix would carry on playing the guitar even when he was sitting on the toilet, and Mark Knolfer at one time spent hours of the day looking through guitar magazines. There's a fine line between addiction and obsession, but it was probably such obsession that make those two guys the musicians they became.
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northbound
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Derek27 wrote:
Sun Dec 31, 2017 5:06 pm
There's a fine line between addiction and obsession, but it was probably such obsession that make those two guys the musicians they became.
+1
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Crazyskier
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Dallas wrote:
Sun Dec 31, 2017 5:01 pm
There is a fine line between being addicted and being passionate and I would tend to agree being addicted is not ideal

Peter is one of the few I know that has always remained committed while still being able to manage his valuable family time.
Trading is lonely enough without alienating yourself further from those your closest to
Wise words, as is often the case from Dallas
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Kafkaesque
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Some interesting thoughts on passion vs addiction. I'll put myself out there and give two examples that I've felt myself.

One, I remember being on a two-week vacation with my girlfriend and family. As the final day arrived and daily life was looming large, everybody else was like, oh man I don't want to back to work. While I couldn't wait to get back to the grind, despite at the time not even really needing the money, I would earn from it. It didn't mean, I hadn't enjoyed the two weeks away, but I was still eager to get back to it. That, for me, is passion.

Two, being at anniversary dinner at a nice restaurant or at family birthday for a child, while your mind is elsewhere and you'd really rather be doing that something else. That, for me, is addiction.

Thankfully, through lots of work, which is a continious process, I've gotten to where scenario one is always the case. The key for me is being passionate about something in your life, but only when you do it, because there's always going to be so many other at least as important things in your life. If not, the passion will soon enough end up as a empty feeling and an escape route.

Anyone claiming in any way, shape or form, that addiction is good, needs - to be blunt - a flipping reality check. And have in all likelyhood never come close experiencing addiction on their own mind or someone close to them.
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northbound
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Kafkaesque wrote:
Mon Jan 01, 2018 2:09 pm
Anyone claiming in any way, shape or form, that addiction is good, needs - to be blunt - a flipping reality check. And have in all likelyhood never come close experiencing addiction on their own mind or someone close to them.
You made me think about what I wrote and you’re right. Most probably when I talk about addiction and obsession, I mean “really big passion” and “commitment”.

Certainly something that you can control, not something that controls you completely, as in the case (for example) of compulsive gamblers that blow their paychecks on fobts, etc.
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Black Ice
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I'll give you guys two examples of 'obsession with winning' in the world of racing: Tony McCoy & Richard Dunwoody. Both have/had women who were real saints in putting up with them.
Tony was seriously upset if he had a day at the office without a winner...& was often in a foul mood coming home..& would analyse/analyse analyse endlessly what he should/could have done better. Dunwoody the same. McCoy has come out of it ok & balanced..Dunwoody not so,,it cost him his marriage...and is why he still in his 50's is taking on crazy trials like walking to N Pole etc. I gather he was very difficult to live with. Then again...that obsession with winning is what made them such great jockeys. So is obsession bad or not? I dunno!
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Black Ice
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I remember one Chestenham Festival McCoy was having a rotten week and was going around like a wet week...that even the racing press...usually so jockey friendly ..were starting to criticise and telling him to get a life & SMILE!
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ruthlessimon
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I must confess, I do sometimes get a somewhat sadistic rush when witnessing the panic & desperation during explosive movements (especially if I'm involved just slightly prior - & in the right direction of course!!)
utubecomment21
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Funny I just saw this YouTube video today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0aBVx-oLNA - How Dangerous Can Making Money Be? Day Traders face Addiction

Its something that has been spoken about by a few successful traders, addiction, obsession. I have seen a few 12 step programs and have been in contact with many of their participants, and addiction never ends well! If you can't step away, relax, do something else without thinking about trading, then there's a potential issue. The money factor has nothing to do with it! As Anton Kreil said (paraphrasing) there are a million ways to make a million" trading is one of those ways. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a51wQAOGR4 - 10 Secrets to Achieve Financial Success

The few that make real money rarely talk about it as in addiction, it seems to be those who are loosing that the label of 'Addiction' might come into play. If one isn't successful and is addicted, then that's an obvious problem ... you know the type ... the type who will trade/gamble the food money or rent. I don't believe in one should keep on trying. For the most part, and statistics show that most will loose in trading. Why would one want to continue ... to loose? they are those who simply don;t know that trading isn't for them ... as it isn't for most people!

I'm afraid trading is like anything else in life, the so-called successful will shout it from the rooftops, whilst making money from ever other revenue stream other than the stream they're claiming to be promoting, pushing the narrative of success, because they've worked out that its the 'Narrative' that makes money, not the money making solution. Another handful will just about make the grade, but the vast majority won't make enough to cover the price of a McDonalds happy meal, but continue to throw their money down the drain because they want to believe the success narrative.
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