Why do you lose more the longer you stare at the screen? Stanford study: The Alpha of top traders is actually walking.
In the cryptocurrency world, you must have had this experience: staring at the 15-minute candlestick chart, RSI divergence looked at over and over, various group messages checked repeatedly, and then a series of operations as fierce as a tiger, only to look back and see your account has shrunk by 20%. Did you think it was your technical analysis that was lacking, or that the news wasn't fast enough?
After my in-depth research on trading psychology and brain science, I found that this is likely not a technical issue, but rather that your brain has entered tunnel vision.
We spend a lot of money on TradingView membership, set up multiple screens, and buy on-chain data tools, trying to use our brains like high-frequency trading robots. But the truth is, the decision-making module of the human brain fails when sitting idle and staring at the screen for too long. Real Alpha often isn't generated while you are staring at the screen, but rather when you are on the move.
This article will reveal a severely underestimated trading black technology: combining Stanford University's research with the wisdom of historical traders to tell you why walking can significantly improve your trading success rate.
Science confirms: How does walking repair a trader's brain?
Many people think walking is just for relaxation, which is wrong. In the dimension of trading, walking is a proactive neural reset.
1. Stanford Study: Breaking the deadlock of bullish and bearish thinking
According to experimental data published by Stanford University's Educational Research Institute, walking can increase divergent thinking by as much as 60%.
In trading, the most frightening thing is to get stuck in obsession. When sitting in front of the computer, you easily see only the evidence that supports your position, which is confirmation bias. Stanford's data proves that walking forces the brain to break out of its original framework.
When sitting and staring at the market, you only see the breakdown of support levels and panic about cutting losses. But when walking and thinking, you suddenly connect to the macro background; maybe this is just a false breakdown to clean out leverage before the Fed's interest rate decision? This shift in perspective often marks the line between liquidation and profit.
2. Physiological mechanism: Restart rationality, combat FOMO
When we focus on the jumping red and green numbers, the areas of the brain responsible for fear and greed become highly active, cortisol rises, and this is the physiological root of FOMO and panic selling.
Walking promotes blood flow to the areas of the brain responsible for rational decision-making and risk management. When sitting, emotions dominate, and you will place orders impulsively like a gambler; when moving, rationality takes over, allowing you to switch back to trader mode.
3. Backend system: Finding the logic of sector rotation
This is what I believe to be the most important discovery in the cryptocurrency space. The brain has a backend system that is responsible for association and piecing together.
When focused on the market, this system is suppressed, and you overly concentrate on current price fluctuations and noise. But when walking, this backend system is activated. In the cryptocurrency space, real profit opportunities come from predictions of sector rotation, for example, from Bitcoin's ecosystem spilling over to Layer 2, and then to Meme. This cross-sector logical reasoning is hard to comprehend while sitting because it requires strong associative thinking. Walking helps you connect scattered information, such as a project's Twitter, on-chain fund flows, and macroeconomic data, into a complete trading logic.
Wisdom of historical walking traders
This method is not unfounded; many top thinkers and decision-makers throughout history have walked their way to insights:
Nietzsche: He once said that all truly great ideas are conceived while walking. For traders, this means that real trend judgments are not made by staring at a 1-minute chart.
Jobs: The most famous advocate of walking meetings in Silicon Valley. Many critical decisions at Apple were made while walking. The takeaway for us is: for major decisions, such as going all in or liquidating, never rush to decide in front of the screen.
Darwin: He built a thinking path in his former residence. He kicked stones on it every day, counting the circles of thought. Trading is the same; you need a physical space to filter noise, kicking away the market's noise like stones, leaving only the core logic.
Practical guide: How to optimize your trading system through walking?
Based on my practical observations and research, I recommend incorporating walking into your trading SOP:
1. Mandatory cooling-off period after stopping loss or taking profit
Just closed a position, regardless of profit or loss, is your most vulnerable time, making you prone to revenge trading or overconfidence. At this time, force yourself to get out of your chair, go downstairs, and walk for 15 minutes. Let rationality come back online to avoid giving back profits.
2. Review strategy
Don't look at K-line charts for reviews. Put on headphones, open a recording app, and verbalize today's operational logic while walking. Why am I going long here? Am I chasing the price due to emotions? The brain mode while walking will allow you to examine yourself more objectively, identifying your flaws like a third party.
3. The 10-minute rule for finding Alpha
When you feel the market is directionless, don't force it. Go for a walk and get through the first 10 minutes of mental chaos. Usually after 10 minutes, the blood flows to the right places, and you will suddenly understand: this is garbage time, and doing nothing is the best action, or you might suddenly realize that a certain sector is undervalued.
4. Separate execution from decision-making
While walking, develop strategies, such as buying if it breaks below 60k, otherwise do nothing. When sitting, only focus on execution, placing orders like a robot. Never think and place orders while sitting; that is the behavior of a retail trader.
The cryptocurrency space is a high-intensity psychological battleground. Your brain is like a supercomputer, but its rational module is powered not by electricity, but by oxygen and movement.
If you find yourself getting more and more tired, and your account's capital curve is looking worse, instead of stubbornly sticking to technical indicators, try incorporating walking as part of your trading system. Remember, the K-line chart is full of deceptive lines; the real trend is often clearest when you step away from the screen and walk on the road.
Source
* Stanford Study (2014): Oppezzo, M., & Schwartz, D. L. (2014). "Give your ideas some legs: The positive effect of walking on creative thinking." Journal of Experimental Psychology.
* Neuroscience of Decision Making: Raichle, M. E. (2015). "The brain's default mode network." Annual Review of Neuroscience.
* Historical Figures: Walter Isaacson's "Steve Jobs"; English Heritage (Darwin).
