I've used this article (parts of it) to help focus my mind on trading, when I was trading equities. Maybe, some of you will find it useful.
Article: Metaphors for Trading
by Ruth Barrons Roosevelt
"Creation of empowering metaphors is one more tool you can use to enhance your trading. The metaphors you use regarding your trading have a direct impact on your approach to trading and consequently on your profitability.
Usually we don't choose metaphors consciously and yet they're in the back of our minds guiding our interpretation of what's happening and our expectations of what will occur. Sometimes they support us and sometimes they don't. A metaphor is a comparison of one thing to another. "My love is a red, red rose." wrote the poet. Well, his love was not actually a red, red rose but he likened her to a red, red rose with it's beauty, it's fragrance, it's vulnerability, and so forth.
Life's a bowl of cherries, say some. Life's the pits, say others. Life's a bitch and then you die. Or, Life's a bitch and then you marry her. It's a jungle out there. Life's a ball! A delicious smogasboard. A picnic. A contest. Life's a game.
The Myth of Sisyphus tells the story of an extended life metaphor. Sisyphus was condemned for eternity to push a giant rock up a mountain and watch it roll down. Only to push it back up again. Try that as a metaphor for your life or your trading and notice how you feel. Now try saying that life or your trading is a sacred gift. And notice what that feels like.
Metaphors are symbols and as such carry mythic power. They liken one thing to another and in so doing cause us to assume - quite unconsciously -- that what is true of one part of the comparison is also true of the other. Now, of course, if we addressed it logically and consciously we might say it wasn't so.
A metaphor can bring instant beneficial power and can also bring nagging and persistent limitation. A limiting metaphor can be toxic to your life or trading. On the other hand, an ennabling metaphor can work wonders for you even while you sleep. Metaphors are subtle and as such, they can have a profound effect upon how we view ourselves, our lives, our trading, our work, our relationships with others.
A metaphor is a symbolic representation of a belief and like a belief it's usually selected without conscious awareness. Sometimes a metaphor is simply part of the culture. It may or may not support us, so it's important to consciously review and consciously choose and use only helpful metaphors. These metaphors will be your behind the scenes nurturing guides.
Think about the metaphors you use to describe living in general. Do you have one prevailing reference, in other words a primary or dominant metaphor for life? Or do you have a bunch of them? If so, are they all pretty much the same? These metaphors could be organizing your life, so ask yourself, "Do these thoughts support me?" If not, choose others.
Let's look at some metaphors that traders and the trading culture as a whole use to depict and explain trading."
The whole article and several others are free on her website.
Her website:
http://www.ruthroosevelt.com/index.html
