Day after day, week after week, mornings and evenings:  if you’re trading well, it’s easy to burn out.  If you’re going to leave everything you’ve got on the field by the end of the game, you’re going to need to renew that energy.  Just as important as the quality of your market time is the quality of your time away from markets.  That includes quality time with loved ones, quality time in physical activity, and quality time immersed in meaningful personal pursuits.  Quality time is time spent that gives you energy, that inspires you, that fills you with joy, a sense of meaning, energy, and love.  Without positive emotional experience energizing us, our focus is diminished.  That takes a toll on our pattern recognition and makes it easier for biases and impulses to color our decision making.  It’s not enough to relax after a market day; we need to refresh and renew.
Whether in business or in trading, great outcomes come from great processes.  The sad truth is that the majority of traders don’t succeed because they don’t do the things needed to earn success.  You can have a relaxed, balanced lifestyle or you can challenge yourself, change yourself, and pursue a performance path.  The greats don’t push themselves to succeed; they are pulled by goals larger than themselves.