Trading With The Flow!!!

We are,at the end of the day,Traders.Our job is a frontal assault on the markets,all with an equanimous mind,neither euphoric nor depressive,absolute still….and a Method that retains its simplicity and helps us to achieve the dual goal of profits with equanimity.

Hello Friends

According to Saint sirs Quote above Trading with the Flow has dual goals, profits and also having an equanimous mind while doing it.

How many of us have spend some time to understand what is this "equanimity" and how do we achive it?

Is there something besides the technical aspect of the method we trade, that can help us in achiving this state of mind?

Thanks
Rajesh

Nice Rajesh thanx a lot plz continue this thread with lots of wisdom

regards
Satya

Equanimity is one of the most sublime emotions. It is the ground for wisdom and freedom and the protector of compassion and love. While some may think of equanimity as dry neutrality or cool aloofness, mature equanimity produces a radiance and warmth of being.

Buddha described a mind filled with equanimity as "abundant, exalted, immeasurable, without hostility and without ill-will."

The English word "equanimity" translates two separate Pali words used by the Buddha. Each represents a different aspect of equanimity.

The most common Pali word translated as "equanimity" is upekkha, meaning "to look over." It refers to the equanimity that arises from the power of observation, the ability to see without being caught by what we see. When well-developed, such power gives rise to a great sense of peace.

Upekkha can also refer to the ease that comes from seeing a bigger picture. Colloquially, in India the word was sometimes used to mean "to see with patience." We might understand this as "seeing with understanding."

The second word often translated as equanimity is tatramajjhattata, a compound made of simple Pali words. Tatra, meaning "there," sometimes refers to "all these things." Majjha means "middle," and tata means "to stand or to pose." Put together, the word becomes "to stand in the middle of all this."

As a form of equanimity, "being in the middle" refers to balance, to remaining centered in the middle of whatever is happening. This balance comes from inner strength or stability.

The strong presence of inner calm, well-being, confidence, vitality, or integrity can keep us upright, like a ballast keeps a ship upright in strong winds. As inner strength develops, equanimity follows.

These two forms of equanimity, the one that comes from the power of observation, and the one that comes from inner balance, come together in mindfulness practice. As mindfulness becomes stronger, so does our equanimity. We see with greater independence and freedom. And, at the same time, equanimity becomes an inner strength that keeps us balanced in middle of all that is.

Ref: http://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/articles/equanimity.html

For further read plz refer to the above link or as always google it :)

Thanks
Rajesh

Satya my friend, glad to know you liked it :), Now some google-cut-n-paste on the FLOW ;)

Ref: http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/104-all-about-flow

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience,” describes flow as “being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.”

What it feels like to be in flow

Completely involved, focused, concentrating – with this either due to innate curiosity or as the result of training.

Sense of ecstasy – of being outside everyday reality.

Great inner clarity – knowing what needs to be done and how well it is going.

Knowing the activity is doable – that the skills are adequate, and neither anxious or bored.

Sense of serenity – no worries about self, feeling of growing beyond the boundaries of ego – afterwards feeling of transcending ego in ways not thought possible.

Timeliness – thoroughly focused on present, don’t notice time passing.

Intrinsic motivation – whatever produces “flow” becomes its own reward.

So how do you get there?

Wikipedia’s entry on the subject says the following conditions help:

Clear goals (expectations and rules are discernable).

A high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention (a person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to focus and to delve deeply into it).

Direct and immediate feedback (successes and failures in the course of the activity are apparent, so that behavior can be adjusted as needed).

Balance between ability level and challenge (the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult).

A sense of personal control over the situation or activity.

The activity is intrinsically rewarding, so there is an effortlessness of action.

Enemies of flow include fearing what other people think…

A major constraint on people enjoying what they are doing is always being conscious of a fear of how they appear to others and what these others might think. Ecstasy includes rising above these constraining concerns of the ego.

Thanks
Rajesh

Great posts Rajesh. We had been missing your fantastic posts for quite some time.

Kapil

Great posts Rajesh. We had been missing your fantastic posts for quite some time.

Kapil

Second to that

Regards
Satya

Thanks Kapil & Satya.

The question remains …

Do all these definations of FLOW / Equanimity take us any closer to experiancing it ?

Besides trying to master the rules of the method & right position sizing / MM, is there something else we do/learn to get the required state of mind?

There is no Limit to what you can achieve, if there is a Limit that exists only in your own mind —- SAINT

How does one over come these LIMITS put in by your own Mind?

Thanks
Rajesh

Thanks to this thread by rakesh, adding a few more quotes, but from a different person, in a different specialisation. We have but a few things in common with him, and that is we are constant learners.
Please give the quotes their due, im not changing them at all, they are in their original form, but the relevance to our trading FLOW style is remarkable. bracked {} are my thoughts.

Quotes of Bruce Lee- Legendary martial artist.

• Emptiness the starting point. — In order to taste my cup of water you must first empty your cup. My friend, drop all your preconceived and fixed ideas and be neutral. Do you know why this cup is useful? Because it is empty.
• Life is wide, limitless. There is no border, no frontier.
• Flow in the living moment. — We are always in a process of becoming and NOTHING is fixed. Have no rigid system in you, and you'll be flexible to change with the ever changing. OPEN yourelf and flow, my friend. Flow in the TOTAL OPENESS OF THE LIVING MOMENT. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose
• Cease negative mental chattering. — If you think a thing is impossible, you'll make it impossible. Pessimism blunts the tools you need to succeed.
• The fancy mess solidifies and conditions that which was once fluid, and when you look at it realistically, it is nothing but blind devotion to the systematic uselessness of practicing routines or stunts that lead nowhere. {fancy? we all know people who talk more trade less}
• I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. {thats beautiful}

MJ-

How doesone over come these LIMITS put in by your own Mind?

By perfecting the process of trading by constant practice so much that the action becomes a second nature and firmly beleiving that the great goals could indeed be achieved….and that is a level we all have to graduate to from a level of entry,exit,tweaks and so on….we have learnt it…let us practice it to perfection and take the game to the next level….

Smart_trade

By perfecting the process of trading by constant practice so much that the action becomes a second nature and firmly beleiving that the great goals could indeed be achieved….and that is a level we all have to graduate to from a level of entry,exit,tweaks and so on….we have learnt it…let us practice it to perfection and take the game to the next level….

Smart_trade

Thank you dear ST

Regards
Satya