What does it mean to live a well-balanced life as a trader?
A well-balanced lifestyle is necessary for personal effectiveness, mental calmness, living well, and as traders to stay calm in constant uncertain situations.
You may be responsible for your family, your work life, or any other area and most of us always have something important to do on any given day. When all of these activities bombard us on a daily basis, it is difficult to focus on our well-being.
Think about the society we live in.
Everyone is using social media platforms, and because of this extensive use, it appears that everyone is working hard to attain their dreams or that the world is in a hurry, while we seem to be doing nothing or stuck in our day-to-day job lives.
So, what happens when we let social media and other people’s lifestyles influence our daily lives? We also strive to get busy and start working for that dream we’ve always wanted.
This simply resulted in an unbalanced lifestyle means that you have no control over your day-to-day life. Simply put the daily schedule you follow started to take control of your life.
Keep in mind that: There is More to Life Than the Daily Grind.
I had a disastrous lifestyle as a trader in my early stage. Just like most new traders, I fell in love with trading because of the shitty and false marketing going around the whole trading industry. (Flashy lifestyle, supercars).
At that time I thought trading is something you sit on your screen all day long and placed 10 to 20 trades per day to make 10% to 20% daily.
Simply said, I seek excitement from trading rather than accepting the harsh truth, and as a result, I’ve lost sight of all the other positive things I can do to improve myself, my health, and, most importantly, my happiness.
Fast forward to today, I realize that trading is not about excitement. It is about self-improvement, mental toughness, and managing emotional ups and downs in the face of constant uncertainty.
Another key lesson I learned at that early stage of my trading career is that the more I nurture myself in areas like health, nutrition, a well-balanced daily routine, mindset, and developing positive habits, the better my overall trading process becomes.
Now, To deal with the intense stress of trading, we need a rock-solid mentality and attitude.
We cannot or will never be able to develop such a mindset if we do not work on improving other aspects of our lives.
Simply said, if we do cannot live a balanced life as traders, it is practically hard to be a successful and sustainable trader.
Therefore I’ve decided to share 10 tips to Find More Balance in Your Life as a Trader.
Let’s dive in.
1. Prioritize What You Need in Your Life
When you learn how to prioritize your life, you can focus with intention on what matters and accomplish your most important goals.
Priorities are difficult to determine.
There are some things you want to prioritize at the start of each year, such as spending more time with family, discovering your life’s purpose, starting a business, traveling the world, or becoming a profitable forex trader.
But to be honest most of us struggle to focus on what we really want in our life when the year goes on.
For example, the majority of people will never turn down a high-paying job, even if it means spending less time with family or working on themselves to find the balance of their life.
Why is that?
Because of that dopamine hits you get when you are getting a paycheck from your high-paying job.
I’m not saying it’s bad and you should quit your job. I’m saying that I’ve seen lots of people who were able to organize their lives while working a 9-5 job and still living a well-balanced lifestyle.
Also, I’ve encountered people who used to work both a day job and on their goals and then quit their jobs after accomplishing their goals.
So how are they doing it? What is the secret?
The secret is finding your life purpose and finding out what you really want to achieve in your life.
Let’s say you really want to become a profitable forex trader, but it doesn’t mean you should sit in front of your computer all day and place trades. If you do so, You will miss out on a lot of life opportunities.
You won’t be able to focus on your nutrition or physical and mental health since you won’t get enough time to reflect on yourself. You’ll also be unable to consider how and when you can spend time with your loved ones when the stress of your daily life schedule gets too tight.
This is not trading, this is a bad way of treating yourself.
So what is the solution?
Simply makes a list of what you really need in your life then prioritize them while still giving time to focus on yourself.
For example, if you have a day job but still want to be a successful trader, you can day trade the market when you get home at night.
Alternatively, you can trade on a higher timeframe, such as daily or 4-hour, to spend less time on trading while still earning a good profit.
By doing that you will have plenty of time to focus on your job and your well-being as a trader.
Remember that no matter what you’re attempting to do, whether it’s trading or running a business, you should make time to focus on your well-being.
That is what creates a balanced life, and balanced life will empower us to stay happy while also increasing our chances of success in any area. The same remains true for trading as well.
2. Self Improvement is Important
People who devote enough time to self-improvement have a better understanding of themselves and others, as well as a clear understanding of their goals and how to achieve them. Personal growth allows you to go forward, explore new horizons, and feel happier.
Regardless of what you are doing in your life (Doing a job, Running a business, or trading) you should prioritize improving yourself each and every day.
By improving your life as a trader, your life will become more dynamic, and you will be presented with new life opportunities, and because self-improvement leads to happiness, you will be able to enjoy life rather than worry and regret.
Now in trading, self-improvement is a direct factor that will determine a trader’s success.
Why?
Because trading success is heavily based on psychology and attitude.
Even Mark Douglas mentioned in his book Trading in the Zone that intelligent people are the majority failure in the trading industry and also he mentioned that it is the attitude and unique thinking that will make successful and sustainable traders.
Therefore rather than sitting in front of the charts, focus on the area you can improve when you are not having any trade setups.
Give your best to improve in areas like your focus, social skills, patience, mentality, attitude, positive habits, and high-demand skills.
These things will take your life to a whole new level, and also keep in mind that these outside factors you are improving will, directly and indirectly, impact your trading journey as well.
Remember: Trading is not only about your trading system, it is mostly about yourself.
Related Reading: 10 Habits that nurture self-improvement for forex traders
3. Reward YourSelf
Whether you had a profitable or a losing trading period, it’s important to reward yourself.
If you had a negative month, week, or day, reward yourself for managing the risk. If you had a profitable month, week, or day, reward yourself for being profitable.
For example, if I had a profitable quarter, I will make sure to reward myself with an amazon vacation.
Now, why we should reward ourselves as traders?
Because….
As traders, we always fight with ourselves and the uncertainty which creates lots of stress every day, and to be honest it is actually hard to keep going.
But, by rewarding ourselves as traders, our brain elicits positive emotions, leading to the realization that our hard-work efforts as traders result in a positive reward.
By doing this continuously, our brain will start to link pleasure to accomplishing the task or objective and move toward it in the future.
As traders, we are long-term thinkers and therefore we always set longer-term goals.
Therefore at the end of each month or quarter, write down your top accomplishments, no matter how big or how small. It can be completed the month with a profit or following your trading process without breaking any rules….
And as soon as you achieve your trading goal, celebrate.
Keep in mind that even a small reward is a great motivator – maybe it’s a coffee break, a walk around the block, or a mini-vacation.
Rewarding yourself for victories, big and small, will help you find more balance in your life as a trader.
4. Be a Weekly Trader
Weekly trader? What is that?
Let me explain…
A weekly trader is someone who has performed all of the necessary preparations, chart work, and journaling right before the start of the new week. This means that he is executing the trade opportunities he discovered the previous week during the market opening.
By following this approach, we have lots of time in our favor to focus on other life improvement areas and activities which lead us to happiness while still earning good income from trading.
Therefore, instead of spending the entire day staring at the charts and chartrooms, try to focus on an effective task that is important to your life.
Related Reading: Benefits of Swing Trading
5. Find a Trading Mentor
If you’re new to the forex market and want to learn how to trade, or if you’re a seasoned trader who’s simply stuck in a rut, a good trading mentor can really help you become a profitable trader by cutting your learning curve and showing you exactly what you should and should not focus on.
Also, a trading mentor will help you to remove all the dispensable things and help you really focus on things that really matter.
Simply said a good trading mentor not only teaches a trading system and chart analysis they also teach you to trade productively with an effective daily trading routine that does not cause you to stay in front of your computer all day.
For example, my first trading mentor, Akil Stokes from the tieronetrading focused more time on daily routine, trading discipline, and accountability than the trading systems and market analysis.
This actually helps me to focus more on my life while still trading daily basis in a consistent way.
Therefore invest in a good trading mentor if you really want a trader’s lifestyle.
6. Expect Unexpected
As traders, we are all aware that we should deal with uncertainty on a daily basis.
The majority of what you do in trading has no guaranteed outcome. Any trade can be a winner or a loser, and all we can do is respect the result and live with the uncertainty.
So how to stay positive in the face of a constant uncertain environment like the forex market?
Simply by controlling what we can control and not being too worried about things that we have no control over.
For example, we have no control over price movement, right? So what is the solution?
Simple just react to the price information according to your trading plan.
On the other hand, there are things we can control, such as risk management and being selective more about market conditions in which we should trade. Do your best to control those things.
This is the only way to maintain your calm in the face of constant uncertainty. By doing so, you can remain calm no matter what the market throws at you, and you can also remain calm in adverse situations in your life, which greatly aids in living a better life.
7. Maintain Positive Mental Attitude
Maintaining a positive mental attitude in trading or any other activity will lead to balance in other areas of your life.
For example, if you can’t keep a positive mental attitude after a bad trading day, how can you expect to proceed through the rest of the day’s activities with confidence?
Most likely, you’ll have a harder time finishing the day productively because you let that bad trading day affect your mental state.
If this happens regularly whenever you have a bad trading period, you will never be able to find the right balance in your life as a trader.
Therefore, work on developing a strong mental attitude as a trader – an attitude that lets you remain confident in your trading abilities, trade decisions, chart analysis, and trading system in order to succeed as a forex trader and to keep a well-balanced life.
8. Have a Well Define Trading Routine
A trader’s daily routine will clearly define the lifestyle he or she has.
I’ve seen traders trade all day while sitting in front of the computer browsing social media or watching YouTube, and these types of routines will lead to an unhealthy life. In reality, most of these traders struggle to maintain consistency in their trading process.
Then there are traders who have managed to find a balance between trading and other professions. The majority of these traders only trade for two to four hours every day. They will have more time to focus on other things that will lead to happiness and a well-balanced lifestyle as a result of this.
How many times have you witnessed that trading takes priority and begins to drawn-out opportunities for the moment in life that we live for?
Well here are a few positive daily habits to restore your life balance as a trader. So that you never miss out on important life opportunities.
1. Take some time for yourself in the morning
Get up early in the morning. Normally, this is a practice reserved for the most difficult days, but make it a daily habit. Take that extra hour, or even half-hour, in the morning to do something for yourself before entering the market. Exercising is one option for some people. It could be meditating or reading for others.
2. Manage Effectively When Your Workload Is Excessive
Your work-life balance can often be thrown out the window simply because your workload increased dramatically and unexpectedly. Maybe you’ve recently begun working on a large new project—whatever the case may be, you’ve gone above and beyond your typical work responsibilities and have committed to an 80-hour workweek. If you find yourself in this situation, take a moment to inform your friends, family, or bosses about the intensity of your workload. Explain that it isn’t too much for you to handle, but that finding ways to mitigate the impact would be good to both you and the company—softening the deadline, bringing in friends or family, and outsourcing some of the work are all possible options.
3. Take Lunch and Small Breaks
How frequently do you have lunch at your desk while monitoring the financial markets, or do you simply skip lunch? Make it a point to get something to eat outside every day, whether it’s stopping in at a sandwich shop or having your packed lunch in a park. Stepping away from the computer and charts can help your mind relax and decompress from the volatility of the forex market, allowing you to trade more productively while also reducing trade-related stress.
4. Talk to Your Family During the Day
During the trading day, find a way to communicate with your family. It doesn’t have to be a long chat; even a quick text message might help you remember what’s important in your life. To start, it’s a way to show your family that you value them above all else. Second, it’s a method of grounding your life as a trader in your personal life so that you don’t lose sight of what’s going on outside of your professional responsibilities.
5. Hold Firm With Your Boundaries
You’ll need to set trade boundaries when you first start out. That could mean never working on weekends, shutting off your phone at 7, or just refusing to discuss trading once you’ve left the computer and charts. Whatever boundaries you set, you have the right to keep to them on a daily basis. Tell a friend or family member about your boundaries, and ask them to help you in sticking to your commitments and trading rules. Setting a strong limit for yourself as a trader will keep it from affecting your personal life.
6. Do Something Fun When You Get Home
After you’ve completed your trading day, set aside some time to do something fun. Rather than focusing on your household tasks or completing prep work for the next trading day, relax by watching a movie or going out to dinner with your family. The trick is to do something absolutely unrelated to trading every day that gives you something to look forward to.
9. Focus on Quality Over Quantity
We all know that the volatility of the forex market is much higher and every day the market is provide us with endless trading opportunities to take advantage of.
Although we may not be able to take advantage of all of these trades, the market still makes 10 to 20 trade opportunities available to us, and if you trade on shorter timeframes, the number of trade opportunities will increase as well.
However, in reality, we cannot execute all of these trades, and attempting to do so as many trades as possible every day will result in overtrading. In terms of trading, this is bad for your account, and in terms of life, you won’t have enough time to focus on other things (like spending time with family, focusing on your nutrition and exercise, or meditation) because you’ll have to stay in front of the computer to execute all of those trade setups.
So what is the solution to stop overtrading?
There is actually a simple solution for this. Just be More Selective on Your Trade and Only Execute Higher Probability Trade Setups.
You will be able to cut down the trading opportunities you have to monitor on any given day by filtering out only the high probability trade setups, which will save you a lot of time.
You also don’t have to spend the entire day in front of the computer. As a result, you’ll have more time to focus on yourself and spend with your family.
This is how a well-balanced lifestyle is achieved by focusing on quality and less high-probability trading setups.
And keep in mind that, in trading, Less is More.
10. Live Your Life With A Purpose
What is your soul’s purpose? What would your dream lifestyle look like?
Everyone in this universe needs a clear and well-defined life purpose. For some, it is to travel around the world, to build their dream business, or to get that dream job that they have always wanted.
And for us, it is to be profitable traders.
But, what if you ever feel like you have no idea where your life is heading? Maybe you’ve tried a few other projects, hobbies, and jobs but never felt like you’d found your true calling.
It’s frustrating to live this way, and it’s difficult to track progress as a trader, even if you’ve had a profitable month. It’s easy to feel burned out and disillusioned, as well as if you’re not making a significant contribution to the world and your spirit.
That is why no matter what your profession is, you should need a Purpose. A purpose that makes you fulfilled, makes you happy and gives that motivation to work hard.
Remember that nothing else matters if you’re not following your soul’s purpose. You can align all aspects of your trading life (or any other job) to point towards that direction once you’ve discovered your life purpose. You can do what you love and live in flow if you have the correct motivation and mindset, as well as the right actions as a trader.
Therefore try to Living With Purpose To Find A True Balance In Life.
Related Reading: What You Need to Live a Life of Purpose
Finally, You don’t have to sacrifice your trading career or your goals to have a better work-life balance as a trader. Instead, all it takes is a bit of reprioritization and a commitment to the little things that make life more worth living.
Any time you feel swallowed up by your stress of trading or distant from your family and friends, use one of these strategies to remind yourself that trading isn’t everything.
Finally, before we wrap this article on 11 tips to Find More Balance in Your Life as a Trader, let me know in the comment section…
Are you a trader, who found more balance in your life, and maybe you have some new tips on how to find the right balance in life with the constant stress of trading? If so let us know by commenting in the comment section.
If got something valuable out of this article, show your love by sharing this article with your friends. Remember that sharing is caring.
Related Reading: Is Forex Worth It – How to Make a Living Out of Forex Trading
