Category Archives: Trading Psychology

How to Create a Chain Reaction of Good Habits

Human behaviors are often tied to one another. For example, consider the case of a woman named Jennifer Dukes Lee. For two and a half decades during her adult life, starting when she left for college and extending into her 40s, Lee never made her bed except for when her mother or guests dropped by…

How to declutter your mind

Do you ever feel like your mind is one big, infinitely scrolling, incredibly cluttered to-do list? And are you always struggling to keep it updated, remember what’s on it, readjust its priorities, and delete what no longer serves you? Brooklyn-based product designer Ryder Carroll suggests his solution to this problem: keeping a journal. “We have to externalize…

Understanding Speed and Velocity: Saying “NO” to the Non-Essential

I once worked for someone who offered me the opportunity to work on a new project nearly every day. These projects were not the quick ones, where you spend 15 minutes and crank out a solution. They were crap work. And there were strings: my boss wanted to be informed about everything, and there was…

Understanding the Connection Between Sleep and Anxiety

Research findings suggesting that sleep loss and anxiety are closely linked were among those presented at Neuroscience 2018, the annual conference of the Society for Neuroscience, held in San Diego, California. The news isn’t all dire, however — this year’s event offered some science-based encouragement along with causes for concern. Neuroscience continues focusing on the mysteries of sleep (and…

The radical moral implications of luck in human life

In July 2018 (when we first published this piece), there was a minor uproar when Kardashian scion Kylie Jenner, who is all of 21, appeared on the cover of Forbes’s 60 richest self-made women issue. As many people pointed out, Jenner’s success would have been impossible if she hadn’t been born white, healthy, rich, and famous. She built…

Screw The Box

Adaptation and Fear

This was originally going to be two separate pieces but part way through they seemed to become more and more related.They became more related because of the intertwined nature of fear and adaptation. Fear is often a failure to adapt to a given circumstance and often adaptation is forced upon through fear. What began me…

The Great Paradox of Peak Performance

Trying really hard works—and then it gets in your way Peak performance happens as a result of trying really hard, and then not trying at all. It’s a paradox. I’ve never met someone who has described a breakthrough performance as effortful or straining or tight. It’s the opposite: when people are at their best—whether it’s on…