and addiction to trading, comes from the mental challenge. That's the case for me and I believe most avid traders have similar wiring. However, many also get a lot of additional motivation from the monetary benefits that go along with the rewards of correct choices. For me it's the process of "the chase" as DH labels it. The monetary benefits are just frosting on the cake as far as I'm concerned. I don't need the monetary benefits, I have a job that I feel benefits others by helping them market their production with more profits than they can achieve through their own efforts. Being of service to others in some way I can identify with is critical to my self fulfillment.

Trading fulfills my own personal desires, challenges, and need to keep the mind working except for the 6 hours of needed down time each night. Of course the monetary benefits confirm that I am doing things correctly. If I ignore the Prime Directive too much, I can't afford this mental challenge hobby, so monetary gain has to happen but a slow steady pace over time tells me I'm doing better than 95% of traders(whatever that % is). If I can't do it correctly for myself, I probably can't be a very good service to my clients that hire me to improve their profit margins. Besides, I've searched for many years for the ideal mental challenge and nothing comes close to trading. When done correctly I'm well paid for my efforts.