Ninja Talks EP 20: The Book of Five RingsAs a martial arts enthusiast I found myself reading (again) my favourite book of all time, "The Book of Five Rings" by Miyamoto Musashi.
TLDR;
A 16th Century Samurai who had 64 duels to the death, never lost and wrote down all his techniques, thoughts and insights shortly before he died atop Mount Iwato.
Yeah I know, crazy, but true.
Anyway, I found myself reading this book again and I got to the chapter on Footwork where Miyamoto states something super important that relates to trading massively and something that will 100% help you in your finance career.
He said, "Tred strongly on your heels and allow leeway in your toes."
Essentially this is how I saw it as a trader.
The heel is the first principles of trading - aka the core fundamental rules you must follow to build your trading career.
The Toes are redundant techniques, noise, other peoples opinions, fake news and basically anything that isn't fixed, but constantly changing instead.
Here's how I see it, as traders we need to "Tred strongly on our First principles" and not get lost in frivolous escapades to find the perfect strategy - it doesn't exist, nor does it need to - because first principles are the building blocks of a successful career, not temporary dopamine Toes the majority of traders chase each day.
The first principles?
+ Psychology before, during and after a trade.
+ Win Rate
+ Risk
+ Reward
+ Entry/Exit technique(s)
+ Intuition (gained from experience, screen time and age)
+ Money Management and Compounding Tactics
+ Awareness (The core core)
Does this make sense Ninjas?
Operating from first principles allows you to focus on what's real and lasting, not things that are illusory and temporary.
That's all for this episode!
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Keep your blades sharp!
Nick
