Between hubris and humility

There is so much room for both in trading. How do you find the balance?

Be grateful (Buddhism?)
Turn the other cheek (Christianity?)
... what have you...
...what have you not...

If there's room for emotions in trading, there must be room for reflection too.

Just imagine... a narcissist, aware of his/her narcissism... a controlled sense of guilt. Here's trading for you.

Hi Kosmo,

I would suggest that successful retail traders have found a nice balance. It would have been part of their journey to control these conflicting emotions.

Peace out.

Thank you for your input, MasterJedi. I hope you read the question carefully before answering next time. I am not looking for suggestions. I am inviting to a discussion on the subject. You are welcome to contribute, if you have anything meaningful to say.

I think you must read MasterJedi's answer again

So, yo decide what's meaningful or not.

Don't bother anwser this, I won't read this thread again

Ok Kosmo, so how do I find the balance?

I could say that it finds you if you let it but this is too philosophical. What I will say is this;

Humility is beautiful & hubris/arrogance is ugly. In life you always wanna increase your humility & decrease your hubris...it's a struggle we all face. EGO. Some can become masters at humility after decades of arrogance...its takes recognition & practice I think.

I hope this is somewhat meaningful.

Cheers.

Hi Alien, don't be too hard on Kosmo...he did ask "how do you find the balance", which I probably still haven't answered

Good luck.

Wouldn't this apply to almost any endeavour, not just trading? That said, trading is a probablility game in essence so the question is particularly appropriate here.

I reckon you need a bit of both, some level of valid self confidence in your trading method and ability is vital if you hope to succeed at trading, otherwise you could not carry on through the inevitable tough patches. Equally, some reflective humility to know that a lot of the result is often down to luck rather than skill at the individual trade level, and so can reverse as quickly as it came, is needed to keep you well grounded and careful in your trading.

As for finding the balance, I imagine that depends on the individual. Some of us are naturally big on the hubris, others on the humility. Wherever you start from, emotional stability and balance is an essential requirement for long term success in trading so you need personally to do whatever you need to do, psychologically speaking, to achieve and keep to that middle path of confident humility.

My answer is, if I don't get yelled at for it, you can demonstrate all the hubris that you want as long as after taking care of your own basic needs, give the proceeds of your efforts to help the world around you. Any good cause will do and that will most certainly restore the balance.

The middle ground is an oxymoron. You have to believe your process will have a positive outcome over time but at the same time, the decision making process must be absent of all emotions.