Shot Caller
Using Discomfort to Improve Discipline
The Human Nature
Ever seen the movie Shot Caller? It’s about a regular guy (a stockbroker actually) who ends up in prison and ultimately ends up changing who he is to survive. (It’s amazing that this is a 15-rated movie… It’s pretty savage in places!)
That movie was fictional but I’ve read prison diary books where the theme is the same. Pushed into an uncomfortable environment and forced to adapt quickly.
It always amazes me how good humans are at dealing with and adapting to circumstances. Maybe not out of choice, but human nature is seriously tough.
Getting Comfortable being Uncomfortable
How can we leverage that strength without being forced to? Let’s shift from prison to trading…
- There’s no need to go through the pain of a blown-up account to learn trading discipline.
- You don’t need to have major red days to force change.
It just takes a more proactive approach and doing the tough things each day to grow that discipline muscle.
Get a set of rules and a plan and stick to it…
Get uncomfortable. As Steve Ward said “Get comfortable being uncomfortable” You’re going to be in discomfort at some point. Better to make it optional discomfort like sticking to rules and fighting the urge to overtrade. Rather than forced discomfort like a blown-up account. Season yourself to the discomfort.
It’s one of the reasons I take a cold shower each day. I want to get uncomfortable and make sure I can face it. The trading day (and let’s be honest, life) will throw discomfort your way. If you can deal with discomfort easily without getting fazed, it won’t spiral into something more substantial.
Today think about uncomfortable things you could do that would harden you to the emotional ups and downs of trading.
It’s a tough game, but so worth it if you can stick it out…