“We are but shadows; we are not endowed with real life, and all that seems most real about us is but the thinnest substance of a dream.” — Nathaniel Hawthorne
What is real life?
Over the years, I’ve been plagued with gallstones. The attacks were horrendous—lasting anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. Nothing really describes it well, though anyone who’s experienced them fully understands. It was manageable for a long time, but over the last 18 months, the frequency picked up and ultimately culminated in hospitalization and surgery to remove the defective organ.
While in the hospital, I had moments of clarity—brief flashes that came and went like a dove’s feather lifting in the air. Now, I find myself trying to pull together the fragments of those thoughts and unpack what they meant.
What I remember most was the peace—the strange solace of the experience. Amidst the intermittent pain, there was a stillness. Nothing outside the window seemed to matter. The busyness of the world—the rush of people, the honking cars, the endless noise—was nauseating. I remember thinking, They just don’t get it. People, so wrapped up in their own stresses—work, relationships, responsibilities—seem completely unaware of how fragile life is.
Then it hit me: I was living that same life.
Would I go back to that? I can’t let that happen. I won’t. Right?
Hawthorne was right—we are but shadows in this space we occupy. We don’t know what real life is. And even if it stood right in front of us, we probably wouldn’t recognize it as something valuable.
So what do we make of it all?
For me, it was the realization that time is our most precious resource—a commodity that can’t be bought, borrowed, or negotiated for. The time we allow stress, frustration, anger, or anxiety to occupy our minds—those are minutes we choose to squander. We should spend this currency with more intention. We should budget our time toward God and toward those few people who would make the sacrifice of time on us.
If we’re being honest, that list is small.
And there’s something freeing in admitting that.
Ironically, our founders understood this. Jefferson wrote:
“Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves…”
That hits differently now. We waste so much time on people or situations that wear us down—physically, emotionally, spiritually. Family, lover, friend—it doesn’t matter. If a relationship is toxic, if it drains rather than feeds us, then giving it our time is like sentencing our soul to a prison of quiet suffering.
The enlightened, I think, break free of this. They understand that the biggest burden isn’t the pain or the people—it’s ourselves. Our own unwillingness to step into a better way of living.
Because after all, time is the only thing that’s truly real.
And even that is “the thinnest substance of a dream.”
Make use of it well.
This should be your only trading goal for 2025:
Show up everyday and trade well.
How?
By being PROCESS DRIVEN, not money driven.
Every single week/month there should be a few things you are aiming to improve, such as:
- this week/ month I want to improve my trade selection process
- this week/ month I want to improve my execution by making sure the trades I take are well fitted into my game plan
- this week/ month I want to improve the timing for my trades and getting a better read on the market
- improving stop losses and where you place them
- improve holding trades, because I sell too early and don’t let my winners run
There’s so many areas for improvement for developing traders, which is where all your focus should be.
Money will be lagging response to all your trading success <— keep this at the top of mind when you’re working towards all of this. 🤝