Many people trade, and at the very beginning what they picture is freedom—
no punching in, no having to watch your boss’s mood, and the time is yours.

But once you really get into it, it’s easy to slide into another state.
When the market moves, you watch the charts; even if there’s no order, you still want to find one.
When you lose, you think you should quickly make it back; when you profit, you’re afraid of missing the next move.
When no one is催ing you anymore, your account starts催ing you.

Lately I’ve been increasingly convinced that, further down the road of trading,
whether you have freedom
is not about how many trades you can make in a day.
It’s whether you can simply shut off the screen today because you didn’t see an opportunity.

Don’t chase, don’t average down, don’t prove yourself.
If you don’t trade today, you won’t feel like you missed out on some gains.
Being able to calmly say, “I’m not doing this today,” in itself is really valuable.