The role of habits on the path to a successful trading life

Is it possible to remain consistently loyal to the system? After a few days, I feel like I'm going back to the same place, what should I do? Am I really making progress? I keep repeating but why am I still not making money? In the last article of our series on habit processes, we will provide answers to such questions.

"The first mistake that ruins you is never the only one; it is the spiral of repeated mistakes that follows it. Missing something once is an accident. Missing it twice is the beginning of a new habit."

First of all, you have to put perfectionism aside. You have to accept that you can't do your habits every day, or that even if you do them every day, you won't be able to maintain them with the same quality. Some days will be very boring, while some days will be much more productive. There will be days when you are sick or cannot do it due to urgent reasons. As I mentioned while explaining the paper clip technique, punishing yourself for the days you did not do it can prevent arbitrary postponements. You can also come up with new solutions for the days you can't repeat. For example, if there are days when I can't do it, I prefer to work on the weekend, including the days I can't do it. If I have to skip two days, I include those daily working hours in my weekend routine.

The undeniable importance of repeating habits

One of the main problems with perfectionism is that when trying to find the best approach, the action itself cannot be carried out. I am one of those who prefer to go with the flow by doing my best instead of aiming for perfection in all my work by adopting the philosophy of "Good enough is the best". Staying in discourse, trying to do a flawless job, not being able to put it into action does not take the person beyond procrastinating and avoiding failure. Being on the move makes us feel like we're getting things done and fooling ourselves as if we're taking action. On the other hand, if you can't take action while aiming for the most perfect, "pretending" will not change the result. What needs to be done is to repeat the habit. With each repetition, neural connections become stronger and more frequent, that part of your brain structure begins to become active in the relevant activity, and the relevant behavior begins to become increasingly automatic and better.

Do not forget the rituals

Secondly, I would like to emphasize once again the importance of the motivational ritual. The motivational ritual not only affects the actions that follow it, but also the process that precedes it. For example, I often start the day vigorously to perform my morning coffee ritual. Just performing the morning ritual makes me sleep and wake up more enthusiastically some days. After performing the ritual, the feeling of dopamine secreted in the body increases as well as motivation because you start the day with an action that you have "achieved". This, in turn, will provide you with the necessary energy to carry out your next actions.

Thirdly, emphasizing the benefits and gains of habits and repetitive work rather than the disadvantages will make what is done attractive. For example, a person who describes doing sports as "tiring and boring" and a person who states that it "increases his energy and endurance and strengthens himself" will not be the same likely to continue the same behavior. Let's not forget that another element that initiates change is our language. It's a long journey to improve yourself in terms of both technical and fundamental analysis and increase your financial literacy. It's a journey where you can probably reap the rewards of your efforts in a few years. So rather than framing the end of the game, you should focus on the process itself: You should notice how much you've started to grow intellectually, financially, psychologically, and more.

Based on all of this, we see once again how important it is to focus on the process itself. The most effective way to ensure this is to realize that your progress is happening in stages and that each day you are further ahead than the previous day. I will mention a quote and a metaphor regarding this.

Is it possible to achieve success instantly?

Jacob Reese, a social reformer, said, "When nothing seems to be working, I go and look at a stone crusher trying to smash the rock in front of it. Perhaps he has to strike a hundred times before even a crack forms. However, in the hundred-first blow, the stone splits in half, and I know that it is not the last blow that succeeds, but all the blows that came before it." You can never achieve success all at once, there is always a process beforehand. If you can read these lines now, you should remember that when you were in elementary school, you learned the letters one by one, then you started spelling and started reading the words.

You may think that you haven't achieved success yet despite your hard work, but this is quite pointless. Let's explain this with the metaphor of ice. Imagine that there is ice in the room, imagine that this ice at -5 degrees is gradually heating up. -4, -3, -2, -1 – up to 0.5 degrees. Just as you can't wait for the ice to melt at -0.5 degrees, you can't quit because you can't achieve success when you're not ready yet. After warming up by 4.5 degrees, going another 0.5 will take you (yani başarıya) to melt. Instead, focusing on the road and the effort you put in will make you realize how valuable and important your progress is. Many people may think that you have achieved it in a single day, but when you think about the path behind, you will know that it is the result of continuous effort. Remember that even if you think you're standing still, you continue to learn, improve, and get better as you repeat and maintain your habits.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading action carries risks, and readers should conduct their own research when making decisions.