Trading Like an Observer: The Power of Active Patience
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A - Unlearning the Mind Programs Holding Back Your Trading Success
B - The Essential Keys To Focus On The Process
C - Maximizing the Power of Self-Awareness
D - Recovering from Market Trauma
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Back to today’s post…
When we hear the word patience, it feels like something standing in the way of action. After all, The Oxford Dictionary defines it as:
The problem with this definition is that it positions patience as a passive state.
But seeing patience as suffering or as something to endure makes it feel like the enemy.
In trading, patience isn’t an obstacle—it’s the game itself. It’s not about tolerating delays or problems. That’s the very mindset that’s feeding the urge for action typical of overtrading.
The challenge isn’t having patience. The challenge is how you frame patience.
As long as you keep seeing it as passive behavior, you’ll keep perceiving it as a threat you need to fight or flee.
Only when you reframe your thinking around the meaning of patience is that you reduce the urge to act.
This is where the observer mindset comes in.
Observing is an Active Process
Observation ≠ Inaction
Think of patience as shifting from the participant to the observer.
When you shift into the observer role:
You reduce emotional intensity because there’s a space between you and the outside event.
You process market information more clearly because you utilize that space to not fuse your identity in the market.
You process the result of each trade more effectively, free from ego.
And most importantly…
You build trust in your edge!
You might know that if you practice patience, you’ll make way more money with your trades, but that’s useless if you can’t put it into practice. It remains just a thought, an illusion.
From the moment you start being okay with observing, your whole approach to trading changes — FOMO fades away, losses become more bearable…
And the good thing is that you don’t need the market. What’s a daily life situation you can utilize to practice this observer mindset? No output… just be.
How to Practice The Observer Mindset in Trading
Here are some tips that’ll help you quickly reframe your thinking:
During the trade — Ask yourself: What is happening in the market? (Not: What is happening to my trade?)
After the trade — Instead of focusing on PnL, review how well you followed your process.
Before the next trade — Shift your focus to execution: What do I need to do well in this trade to consider it successful—regardless of the outcome?
The Market Rewards The Observer
Observation is an action — watching price movement, processing trade results, and analyzing execution are all active processes.
You are not “waiting”—you are tracking.
You are not “doing nothing”—you are collecting data.
You are not “letting the market decide”—you are validating your strategy.
If you treat each trade as an opportunity to refine your execution, patience stops being an obstacle and starts being part of your edge.
Peaceful trading,
Sara
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That's a game-changing shift in perspective!