Bobby Curtis was a world class distance runner who developed insomnia (NY Daily News article).  He had to quit competitive running.  He tried and considered every solution.  And then……

It was on one of his innumerable Internet searches that Bobby Curtis finally found a deceptively simple approach, one that counseled him to follow his normal schedule of activities, no matter how he slept, to not let sleep or lack of it dictate his life. It encouraged him to stop looking outside himself for the holy grail of cures, to keep it simple. It helped him see that lack of sleep wasn’t the principal issue, it was his reaction to the lack of it that triggered the conditioned insomnia.

As trader we can torment ourselves for being too slow to enter traders.  We can trade on tilt after we perceive a market unfairness.  We can stress about cutting winners too early.  Torture ourselves for underperformance.  None of this helps our trading.  Often our response to trading weaknesses, which can be overcome through concerted skill development, makes it all worse.

Mike Bellafiore

Author, One Good Trade