Do you find yourself nervous/stressed af when you are in a trade?

During the next 4 sessions, we are going to explore 4 common reasons you may be stressing in your trades and what to do, not just to resolve them, but to entirely uplevel them.

Why being “stressed in a trade” needs to be addressed:

“The prefrontal cortex —the most evolved region of the brain—controls our highest-order cognitive abilities. However, it is also the brain region that is most sensitive to the detrimental effects of stress exposure. Even quite mild, acute, uncontrollable stress can cause a rapid and dramatic loss of prefrontal cognitive abilities.”(1)

When one is stressed (ex. during an oversized trade), the amygdala, an area of the brain that contributes to emotional processing, sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus functions like a command center in the brain, communicating with the rest of the body so that the person has the energy to fight, flee, or freeze.(2)

What does that mean for your trade?

When you are sweating or stressed in a trade, your body is in a fight, flight, or freeze state. That means the blood that was flowing to your prefrontal cortex – the decision making center of your brain – now begins to flow AWAY from your brain and into your arms and legs so that you have the energy and fuel to run from danger.

Your amygdala (the “fear center” of your brain(3)) doesn’t know the difference between being in an oversized trade, for example, or running from a bear. All it knows is “danger: run!” So when your amygdala detects danger, it then signals your body via the nervous system, and starts sending the blood in your brain to your limbs.

When blood leaves the prefrontal cortex due to fatigue or when under stress, it causes your prefrontal cortex to become impaired.

When I say impaired, I mean similar to being “drunk.” We simply don’t have the energy or blood flow in the prefrontal cortex to make calculated, complete decisions.

How do you think that affects your trades?

That’s right… it fucks ‘em up. 🤣

Over the next 4 sessions, we are going to explore the top reasons people get stressed in their trades and how to resolve them in a more complete way. What you’ll learn will be way more effective than just saying “manage your emotions.”

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(1) ref. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2907136/

(2) ref. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response

(3) ref. https://eocinstitute.org/meditation/the-caveman-brain-amygdala-how-meditation-relieves-anxiety-fear/ 

*This post is not financial advice, nor is it mental health advice. Please seek a financial and/or mental health professional where appropriate. For educational purposes only.