Robert Palmer: The Panama Papers Exposed a Huge Global Problem

A good video on why the Panama Papers is so important. Understand that it is a global problem affecting everyone is just the start. For example, tax evasion at the top means structural disadvantage to normal people who earn salary based income for which they are taxed more than their fair share. Until we see real changes at the top, equip oneself with knowledge in trading and investing is pretty much the only window of opportunity available to normal people in taking control of their financial destiny.

Daron Larson: Don’t Try to be Mindful

An excellent presentation about meditation and mindfulness practices. Many traders who have problems in developing consistency in trading can often trace the source of their difficulties from their messy thought processes. When these traders are being told to practice meditation through breathing exercises and awareness practices, they often give up or slack on the training because they do not see immediate results in their trading performances. Well, what they do not understand, and cannot understand, is that it takes time to retrain their minds.

In short, the worse shape your ability to focus your attention to only the factual information presented to you at the moment, the more time it takes to rewire your brain to get to the required state of mind to function properly in trading. Here is the catch – it is exactly those who needed the reprogrammable of their minds the most, are the ones who feel the most uneasy to press on  with their awareness practice.

From my experience coaching professional traders, everyone has a different appetite in terms of mindfulness training. Thanks to my classic martial art training, I have learned many different ways to train awareness and tame our thoughts. Yet, most of the time, only a subset of these techniques are suitable for a particular person. Hence, it is important for traders who want to improve their trading performances not giving up on meditation. It takes time to train your mind, just like physical training, as explained in the video.

Murat Dalkilinç: Why Sitting is Bad for You

We traders need to sit at our trading desk for long hours. That is not good for our health. The least we can do is to take breaks from long sitting sessions and keep our sitting posture in proper form to reduce the negative impacts.