Work with your trading anger

The heat flash burned my face out of nowhere – through my car window. Driving in the outback, the bushfire was in the distance. But in just a few minutes, it was suddenly sizzling right beside me.

Then, alarmingly, a tree that was nowhere near the firefront burst into flames. I screamed, kept driving, and eventually made it to safety.

Anger can be just like this. An ember can ignite in the right conditions.

It can make us lash out.

We make rash decisions.

We say hurtful things.

And in the markets, we can take inappropriate positions, rage quit, or self-sabotage.

What we need is a safe container for our anger. We need to observe the fluctuations of our minds and not become them.

Meditation teacher, Michael Stone, provides a framework so we can acknowledge and listen to the truth anger might be trying to convey to us – without all of the negative effects.

He uses the acronym – S A I N

Stop – and notice the emotion rather than running or being swept away by anger

Allow – consider what has triggered you, and allow the emotion to be felt by your body

Investigate – explore it. Where do you feel it in your body the most? What changes are you detecting?

Non-Identify – we are not our emotions. Rather than saying: “I am angry”, try saying “I am feeling angry”. It’s a subtle distinction.

It will take some practice, but with some effort, you can harness this emotion, and hear its whispered truths. There’s a reason why you became angry. If you can detect what fanned that ember into a raging bushfire, you’ll become a better trader… and a better human.