[caption id="attachment_3708" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Photo by FreeWine"][/caption] Following my post about “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience“, I begin to see how important our own perceptions play in determining if we are happy or not under all circumstances. One of the benefits of trading in stocks and shares is that it forces you to confront your naked fear and greed whenever you are about to buy or sell shares. Nothing strips away how good/bad you are at stock trading (or investing) then looking at your profits and losses incurred on the trade. You feel happy when you’ve made the right call and you feel terrible if you’ve lost money and even worse if the loss is realised. It is from this experiences that I realise financial freedom by itself will not make me happy. It is how I make use of the financial freedom status to create for myself an optimal flow experience in all aspects of my life. Even the euphoria of trading wins fade after a while and I look out for the next “high” from jeeping/panging an equity position. Happiness and sadness that is dependent on market conditions sets us up for a life of emotional roller-coaster. This cannot be the receipe for a life filled with optimal experiences. So how can you structure your life into a flow experience even as you pursue financial freedom? Read more...