How Charts Affect Sleep and Nerves: Is Trading About Health?
Hey, this is NorthRay.
You know what no one told me before I opened my first order?
That trading isn't just about charts, strategies, and green candles.
It's also about sleepless nights. And the anxious "uh oh, why did the price go the wrong way?" And the urge to close the laptop and never open it again.
I thought the hardest part was learning to read the market.
Turns out, the hardest part is learning not to lose your mind while doing it.
My first "hello" from insomnia
Remember that 0.50 lot trade I wrote about last time?
Well, I didn't close it all day. Or all evening. Or all night.
I lay in bed, stared at the ceiling, and thought, "I wonder what's happening with EUR/USD right now?"
I grabbed my phone. Opened the terminal.
The price dropped 20 pips.
I closed my phone. Lay down. Five minutes later, I opened it again. The price went up 10 pips.
This went on for about two hours.
I didn't sleep. I couldn't sleep. Because it wasn't an alarm clock ticking in my head — it was the chart.
The next morning, I looked like a zombie. Drank three cups of coffee. And asked myself: "Are you going to trade or destroy your health?"
Is trading about money? Or about nerves?
I started with the thought: "Once I learn, I'll start making money."
But now I'm starting to understand something else.
Trading isn't about money.
Trading is about self-control.
Because the market doesn't care about you. About your sleep. About your nerves. About the fact that you have work tomorrow or that you have a headache.
The market goes where it goes. And you either handle it emotionally, or you crash.
And you can crash not just financially —...