• Isolation: Trading is often a solo endeavour. If you’re a trader working from home, surrounded by screens and data, the lack of human interaction can be isolating. The absence of work mates and colleagues can lead to a sense of disconnect from the outside world.
• Lack of Feedback: In many professions, individuals receive regular feedback from supervisors and colleagues. In trading, feedback is primarily provided by the market itself in the fluctuations of your trading account – the ‘cheque book indicator’ as David Bowden, the founder of Safety in the Market often calls it.  The absence of external evaluation can leave traders feeling adrift and disconnected from their progress.

Combating Loneliness in Trading

Join Trading Communities:

• Attend Trading Events, seminars and conferences. Both online and in-person. These events provide opportunities to network with like-minded individuals and foster a sense of belonging. We offer many online events here at Safety in the Market – like our monthly Active Trader Program Online Coaching and our Trading withTime coaching for our more experienced students. Throughout the year we also offer various events like the ‘Market Marathon’ we ran in 2022 where Mat Barnes, our Lead Trainer here at Safety in the Market led a group of students through 250 markets over a weekend, on the hunt for the best ‘big picture’ trades for the coming 12 months. 
• Social Media: Follow traders and trading-related accounts on social media. You can connect with us here on Facebook where we share hints and tips about trading you just won’t find anywhere else. 
• Online Forums: Engage with trading forums and communities on platforms.

Establish a Routine:

• Set Work Hours: Define clear trading hours and stick to them. Having a structured routine can help create a clear boundary between work and personal life.
• Take Breaks: Incorporate short breaks into your trading day to step away from the screen, stretch, or engage in a non-trading activity. These breaks can reduce feelings of isolation and help you come back to the screens refreshed and invigorated. Even just a short walk with the dog around the block can help ward off loneliness and depression as documented in this study by the University of Portsmouth – and your dog will love you for it too!

Communicate with Loved Ones:

• Educate Friends and Family: Take the time to explain your trading career to friends and family. Help them understand the challenges, risks, and rewards involved so they can offer better support and empathy.
• Schedule Quality Time: Make an effort to spend quality time with friends and  loved ones outside of trading hours. This can strengthen your personal relationships and provide emotional support.

Develop your interests away from trading

• Developing interests away from trading holds the potential to bring a multitude of benefits into your life. Firstly, it provides a much-needed break from the relentless demands of trading in the financial markets, promoting mental and emotional well-being. 
• Engaging in other activities, whether it’s pursuing an artistic endeavour, embracing a physical fitness routine, or immersing yourself in a new field of study, offers opportunities for continuous learning and stimulation. Moreover, these interests can create a supportive community of like-minded individuals, expanding your social network and fostering connections beyond the trading world. Our students have many diverse interests away from trading – photography, furniture upcycling, property development, vintage motorbikes or learning another language, just to name a few. And let’s not forget about the power of giving back through volunteer work, which can provide a profound sense of purpose and fulfilment. 

Seek Professional Guidance:

• Mentorship: Consider finding a trading mentor who can provide guidance, share experiences, and offer emotional support. A mentor can be a valuable source of feedback and encouragement.
• Therapy: If loneliness and stress are significantly impacting your mental health, don’t hesitate to seek the help of a therapist or counsellor who specialises in trading-related issues.

Track and Reflect:

• Maintain a Trading Journal: Keep a detailed trading journal to record your trades, strategies, and emotions. Regularly reviewing your journal can help you identify patterns, learn from mistakes, and gain a sense of accomplishment.
• Set Achievable Goals: Establish realistic trading goals and milestones. Achieving these goals can boost your confidence and provide a sense of purpose, reducing feelings of isolation.

Trading can indeed be a lonely pursuit, but it doesn’t have to be a solitary struggle. At Safety in The Market, we’re traders too, and we understand.

That’s why we offer our ‘Trading Tutors’ support service to all of our students. Our Tutors are traders in ‘the real world’ and are available (via email) for you to ask questions and are there to help you every step of the way with your trading journey – so you never have to try and work all this out yourself.  

We also offer additional monthly live group coaching to our Active Trader Program and Trading with Time students (*at an additional cost). In these live coaching sessions, Mat Barnes, our Lead Trainer here at Safety in the Market, works through lessons taken directly from our training manuals and shows you a practical application of them based on his 20 years of experience in trading financial markets – showing students how they can achieve a 10:1 Reward to Risk Ratio (or better!) on their trades. 

Our students find great value in being part of this bigger community – with all of them having one thing in common on their trading journey and that is the work of W.D. Gann, David Bowden and our teachings here at Safety in the Market.  

By actively seeking connections within the trading community, maintaining a balanced routine, communicating with loved ones, and seeking professional guidance when needed, traders can combat the isolation that often accompanies their profession. Recognising and addressing loneliness is not only essential for one’s mental well-being but can also lead to improved trading performance and long-term success in the financial markets.

That’s why, for a limited time, we’re offering 3 months free coaching with any purchase of our Active Trader Program. The Active Trader Program is where all of our students start – no matter how much trading experience they’ve had, so they can build their trading on strong foundations, and often eliminate a lot of the bad habits they’ve already adopted. 

If you’re new to trading or want to up level your trading skills – and your profits, then our Active Trader Program is perfect for you!

Want to learn more? Here’s all the details. See Active Trader Program