Today, we’re talking about the second common reasons one might be stressing in their trade:

2. Trading with money one needs for living.

Please, do not do this.

This immediately sets one up for failure. If one is trading with rent/food money, the amygdala is going to “lose it’s shit”. One’s entire nervous system will be LIVING in fight or flight, meaning one cannot make calculated, complete decisions about any aspect of life… let alone, one’s current trade.

When one risks their wellbeing and safety in a trade, the brain will detect massive danger. Then all the blood from the brain will leave the brain, and go to the limbs to prepare for fight or flight.

When one has risked their well being and, god forbid, then lost the trade (i.e. lost their rent money), that puts the person in a chronic state of fight or flight, which can actually cause semi-permanent damage to the brain and body.(1)

This goes back to “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”. (See included image.) Trading happens in the “esteem” and “self actualization” part of Maslow’s hierarchy. If you are using money from the “physiological” and “safety” parts of the hierarchy, you will trigger the fight or flight response in your body. And you learned in a previous session about how that can destroy one’s ability to think clearly in a trade.

So please, do not do this. That behavior is gambling, not trading.

Trading is a profession and an acquired skill, not a lottery ticket.

If you find yourself continuing this behavior despite your best efforts to stop, you may need to seek professional gambling therapy more than trading education. (And if that’s you, that’s FINE. No judgment here. We love you and are here for you as a team. Growth is about being honest with ourselves so we can heal and uplevel our lives. Behaviors like this are also rooted in “lack mindset” that may have been a conditioning you experienced before the age of 7. And that’s okay. All these awarenesses are here for us to notice, learn from, and grow out of.)

If trading with money you need to live is simply a behavior that pops up occasionally, and is not an addiction, then I encourage you to make the decision to permanently end this behavior now. Your trading career will thank you.

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

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*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.