Why We Ignore the Practical and Profitable (and Chase the Emotional and Fleeting)
The market doesn’t need your feelings... it needs your focus. So why do we keep trading like we're on a reality show?
Imagine you’re holding a boring little stock that’s been climbing 1% a day. Reliable. Steady. Like the financial version of broccoli.
Then suddenly, a random meme stock is all over the news, up 45% in an hour. It’s wild. It's exciting. Your timeline is screaming “TO THE MOON!” You sell your boring broccoli stock and pile into the hype train…
…and that’s how we keep wrecking our progress.
So the question is:
Why do we keep ignoring the practical and profitable… and chase the emotional and fleeting instead?
Let’s break this down.
1. Boring Doesn’t Stimulate
Slow and steady doesn’t flood your brain with dopamine. But watching a stock double in 30 minutes? That hits harder than an espresso IV drip.
The market rewards discipline, but your brain wants drama. We crave novelty. It feels good to chase what’s hot.
Problem is: what feels good often isn’t what builds wealth.
2. The Market Is a Mirror (And We Don’t Like What We See)
Your trades reflect your psychology. If you're chasing, hoping, gambling… the market shows you the truth in your losses.
Sometimes we chase the emotional and fleeting because it distracts us from doing the deep, practical work:
Building a system
Following a routine
Managing risk
Sitting on your hands when there's no setup
All of that feels... too quiet. But wealth likes quiet.
3. Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) Is Louder Than Logic
You see someone post a $1,200 gain in 3 minutes on a ticker you weren’t even watching. Now your strategy feels "slow" or "broken."
Instead of sticking to your edge, you start hopping around like a caffeinated squirrel.
Reminder: Most people posting wins don’t share their losses.
Chasing someone else’s result instead of sticking to your process is how consistency dies.
4. Emotional Decisions Have Bad Math
Let’s say you have a practical strategy that earns 2% per week.
That’s boring math, right?
Now let’s compound it:
2% per week = 125% annually.
Let that sink in.
You don’t need lottery tickets. You need discipline.
Chasing trades based on emotion feels like you're doing more. But most of the time, you're just feeding your worst instincts.
5. The Fleeting Feels Fast, but the Practical Wins the Race
Want to know the real flex?
A boring system you trust
A steady account curve
A daily decision to trade less, not more
The emotional and fleeting is loud. Flashy. Shareable.
The practical and profitable is quiet. Consistent. Sustainable.
That’s what builds wealth.
So How Do We Shift Gears?
Audit your impulses. What triggers you to break your plan?
Reward yourself for consistency, not chaos.
Set boring goals. (Ex: “Follow my plan every day for 30 days” beats “Double my account this month.”)
Track everything. If you chase, write it down. You’ll start seeing the cost clearly.
“A good system can fail, but a bad system with emotional trades fails faster.”
- Every seasoned trader, ever
Wrapping Up
The market isn’t emotional, we are.
But when you start honoring the practical over the emotional, you’ll stop needing luck.
You’ll start seeing progress.
And you’ll finally stop trading like it’s a casino.
Your edge isn’t in excitement.
It’s in execution.
Quick Glossary
FOMO: Fear of Missing Out. That anxious feeling that makes you jump into a trade you weren’t planning.
Compound Growth: When gains build on top of previous gains — small percentages can snowball into big returns over time.
System: A repeatable, rules-based approach to trading. Think of it like a recipe you follow without guessing.
Impulse Trade: A trade made based on emotion, not a plan or strategy.