On July 5th, I became aware of a passing thought (subconscious expectation) that caused me to miss a couple good trades that day. The thought was:
– “As soon as I walk away from my desk, it’s going to go.”
In quantum mechanics, which is “the branch of quantum physics that accounts for matter at the atomic level”(1) – basically explaining how our world functions subatomically– there is a wild phenomenon called the “observer effect.”
It states that “by the very act of watching, the observer affects the observed reality.”(2) In fact, a quantum experiment in space confirmed that reality is what you make it. In the experiment, it showed that a photon is both a particle and a wave simultaneously in the same time and space until you choose how to measure it.(3)(4) (Photons are light, btw.)
That can be “brain breaking” to think about if it’s the first time you’re hearing about it.
Just so you know that I’m not speaking science fiction, Google(5) & the DOJ(6)(7) are using and investing HEAVILY into quantum computing where ones and zeros exist in the same time and space. (Ones and zeros cannot occupy the same time space in our current computers because they function in linear time, like our watches. Quantum computing gives us a work around to the “observer effect” by calculating math multi-dimensionally. 🤯)
My point today is that the ”observer effect” is a real thing. When there is more than one potential outcome (hello, life!), the thoughts of the observer can (and will) affect the outcome.
So how does this play into the expectations of our trades?
On July 5th, I was 2/2 green on the day with my first 2 trades. We gapped down that day. I sat around waiting for a reversal and a gap fill to come. It was a long, choppy wait. During that wait, I had the thought I stated above at various times. But it was such a quiet, nearly subconscious, passing thought, that I didn’t even notice it… until I’d take a break, then come back and see that the breakouts I was waiting on had occurred while I was away.
This happened twice.
That is when I realized, “Oh shit – I’m expecting these breakouts to happen while I am away, and so they are. …Stop that, Betty! You get what you expect!”
And that’s when I went outside to write this for us. We will both be reading this some time in August, but I am writing this on July 5th as a reminder to us both that, in this universe, our thoughts influence our outcomes. …Especially in the markets, since markets are really just our individual consciousness interacting with the global collective consciousness in real time.
That’s enough weird science for today.
Your homework: what whispering thoughts are you having about your trading performance and/or the markets? How often are your negative thoughts playing out in your external results? Do you like your outcomes?
Yes or no, observe your quiet passing thoughts this week and let me know how this affects your results. I’m curious.
References:
- wordnik.com/words/quantum%20mechanics
- sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/02/980227055013.htm
- science.org/content/article/quantum-experiment-space-confirms-reality-what-you-make-it-0
- phys.org/news/2015-03-particle.html
- cnn.com/2019/10/23/tech/google-quantum-supremacy-scn/index.html
- gcn.com/emerging-tech/2021/12/how-quantum-computing-will-transform-government-it/316498/
- energy.gov/articles/quantum-internet-future-here
*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.
Betty Jean Bell 