The Sacred Role of the Observer in Trading
From Reaction to Presence
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Before emotional regulation, before discipline, and before any technique or routine comes one foundational skill:
The ability to position yourself as The Observer.
Without this inner shift, no real change sticks. Impulsive decisions and self-sabotaging behaviors will continue to take the lead, no matter how much you “know better.”
Today, let’s talk about the power of The Observer in trading.
What is The Observer?
It’s a mental position.
It’s you watching your thoughts, reactions, and emotions without becoming them.
In trading, this is the moment where a bad habit tries to take the wheel, and you simply watch it from a distant stance.
What Does It Feel Like?
When you are the Observer, your mind quiets.
You are no longer the anger, the fear, or the greed. You witness these emotions arise, but you don’t become them. And in that space of witnessing, you regain choice.
You begin to recognize the exact moment your identity starts clinging to an outcome. You notice when the self-sabotage cycle is about to repeat itself.
But instead of reacting, you observe, you pause.
That pause is where your power lives.
The Higher Awareness
When you’re The Observer, thoughts and emotions still exist, it’s just they feel lighter.
From that distance, you can see more clearly:
When you’re starting to attach too much to outcomes
When you’re repeating old patterns
When ego is creeping in
Some traders say they can “see their demons” taking over—anger, fear, urges—but they’re really still trapped inside the pattern. You can be aware that you're doing something harmful and still fall for it.
Why? Because you’re not in the observer seat. You’re aware but still identified with your thoughts.
The Observer is the highest form of real-time awareness. It sees all from a different vantage point—one step removed.
From that distance, the emotion no longer has the same grip. It’s still there, but it doesn’t control you.
How do you build this?
You return to presence consistently, until it becomes a way of being.
Mindfulness is not a ritual or a checkbox on your routine. It’s a way of relating to the moment you're in.
Meditation is a beautiful gateway, but not the only one.
You can practice being the Observer during your everyday activities:
When you're eating
Walking
Listening to someone speak
Placing a trade
It’s not about what you do—it’s how you experience what you do.
Ask yourself:
When do I feel most present during the day?
For many, the answer is never.
They have polished routines—exercise, journaling, family time—but fail to be present in them.
How do you eat?
How do you exercise or work?
How do you speak to your partner?
Where is your mind while you’re living your life?
The most painful form of loneliness is being physically present but mentally absent.
When you return to the present, you stop fueling the illusions created by a mind trapped in the past or racing toward the future.
The present moment is where truth lives. That is where the Observer rises.
In Closing
You don’t need to become a monk. You need to train your mind to return to the moment more often than it currently does.
Start small. Observe your breath, a feeling, a thought, and let it pass.
Under the Observer seat, emotional regulation becomes a byproduct.
How can you become more like The Observer in your life and charts?
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You are not your thoughts, you are the observer of your thoughts. When I am about to enter a trade whereas the trigger is not 100% I usually have an inner dialogue between me as an observer and me trying to find a reason to take the trade.
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