Anyone who invests in stocks, or who trades on the stock market, may already know what trading is all about. Contrary to the popular belief, chance hardly plays a role. It is rather the right mental attitude that makes people successful in the long run. However, this so-called “mindset” helps not only in investing, but also in everyday life. The stock market teaches us a few things that we can incorporate into our daily lives to be successful not only financially, but also professionally and privately.
1. Stress resistance
Just like in everyday life, things can sometimes get really turbulent on the stock market. As the past has shown many times, just one tweet from a politician can trigger a stock price drop and send the stock markets into turmoil. Seeing the prices fall, some people start panicing and sell their entire portfolios – only to regret it later. When people are under pressure, they are often no longer able to make rational decisions and are guided by their emotions. The dominant feeling when under stress is often fear, and that has never been a good advisor. Keeping a cool head is not something you can acquire overnight, but you can use stressful situations as an opportunity to practice staying cool. Over time, you get better at it and see things in a more relaxed way. If you are resistant to stress, you will not only make considered decisions on the stock exchange, but also in everyday life. Many problems can be avoided by not making your decisions out of an emotional state.
2. Discipline
A zigzag course is neither recommended as an investment strategy nor as a life plan. One thing today, another thing tomorrow. This hardly leads to long-term success on the stock market, and in everyday life it is difficult to get ahead with such a strategy. That’s why discipline is essential for success on the stock market as well as in private or professional life. If you decide on a strategy, you should follow it and not let yourself be sidetracked by current trends or other occasions that seem tempting at the moment. Constant dripping wears away the stone, and that only works with discipline – every day anew.
3. Decisiveness
Those who spend too long deliberating back and forth, comparing pros and cons and considering all eventualities, often miss out on favorable opportunities. These are characterized by the fact that they disappear as quickly as they appeared. Of course, you should not make your decisions purely on the basis of your gut feeling, but you should also not take too long. Whether it’s a good time to buy a certain stock or it is a pretty person passing by in the supermarket: If you take too long to think about it, you will miss many opportunities. Sometimes it’s just important to make a decision at all, because otherwise you’ll be stuck forever.
4. Patience
In a fast-paced world where everything is available immediately, we have forgotten how to practice patience. People want to get rich quickly, lose weight over night, or want to find the love of their lives in no time at all – and all this should be achieved without much effort. That does not work, neither on the stock exchange nor in everyday life. Investing in the stock market is not a sprint, but a marathon. You invest by following a disciplined strategy. At the beginning, little happens, but with time you see the success. Patience is always rewarded. Some things you need to give time to develop and unfold. This is just as true for stock market trading as it is for following a diet or finding the love of your life. Those who remain patient will win in the end.
5. Courage
One of the greatest virtues is courage. If you have the courage to not always go along with the current trends, just because they are hot or promise particularly high returns in terms of stock trading, you are ahead of many people. It takes courage to follow through with your strategy or to shape your life the way you think is right. If you don’t let yourself be distracted from your plan you will be successful on all levels in the long term, because you live according to your inner convictions and not according to what comes at you from the outside.