How To Be A Strong Man

This article will be straight to the point without sugar because it's a man talking to a man. If you're a man and if you're trading, you need to be strong. Doesn't matter what strength - physical, mental, spiritual, etc. - I'm talking about all strengths as they're all connected together. Below is the list of what I practice myself and if I give a tip it means it worked for me and increased my own strength. If it didn't work it's not included in the list. And when I say "don't do" something it means I have done it myself in the past and I actually know the difference between doing vs not doing it. It's not from books, it's from raw experience.

1. No alcohol at all. You can't think straight when you drink, you damage your body seriously and you can't compete with anyone when you're drunk. You became a noodle when you drink.
2. No smoking. If you smoke then you're in a very nasty hamster wheel chasing the immediate gratification every 30 minutes. You become so nervous that you can't think straight as well. Long term trading success under the influence of tobacco is not likely. Yes, Jesse Livermore did smoke and achieved great riches, but he killed himself in the end so that's not success to me. Besides, the damage to your body is extreme. Also everything you touch gets a very bad smell that you don't notice anymore, but others do. People try to steer away from you and one of those people can be the girl/woman that you adore.
3. No drugs at all. If you want to try drugs for the sake of experience - do it before you start your trading career. Understand that certain drugs offer just a very temporary glimpse of a conscious life. Once you know how it feels, your job is to work your way up to that consciousness level without using any drugs, only through your own will and diligence. If you get addicted to a drug you become very weak and start to believe in very stupid ideas (falsely assumed truths because of distorted view of reality) that will lead you nowhere in life. 
4. No caffeine. Caffeine creates exhaustion and emotional swings, all leading to the loss of self-control, stepping you back on your way to self mastery. Why do you need caffeine? To force yourself to work a job you hate? Get rid of that job and problem solved. Stop your stupid escapisms - better become homeless than keep living in the lie. If you use caffeine very rarely in a ceremony/shamanic way to temporarily increase your consciousness and get important lessons then that can be OK because caffeine is not that harmful as alcohol/smoking/other drugs and the body gets rid of it relatively quickly. But if you use caffeine as your doping to boost you up then you're destroying your body. If you think that coffee gives you energy out of thin air then you're very unconscious. It's impossible to create something from nothing. The energy boost that you receive now is taken from your future years. You will suffer for that when you get older. Look at the mirror, perhaps you already look older than you should. Do you prefer energy boost now and being lifeless in the future or do you want to have a solid level of energy throughout your whole life? Why do you need those boosts anyway? What are you doing with that excess energy? Are you actually changing the world or are you just trying to survive another day at work? And what are those emotional swings for? It's fun? Like a roller coaster ride? Really? Think again before you drink another cup of coffee. Go with decaf for a month if you're at the point where it's really hard to quit. Or take 2 weeks holiday, throw out all your coffee into trash bin and drink loads of water, juices, do enema cleansing, etc. to get yourself clean as soon as possible.
5. No sperm release. Sperm should be released only for making children. In other cases you can have sex and achieve orgasm without releasing sperm, because ejaculation and orgasm are two different things. If you think it's one and the same then you're not conscious and attentive enough and you need to practice. Read about Dao practices (Mantak Chia books) or Tantric love. Why a man must contain sperm? Because in sperm you have all of your essence, the life force, the best of the best from your body - it's all prepared to create new life. When you release it you lose an extreme amount of energy. Most men in their thirties already feel like dead for a few days after release. Why waste such incredible amounts of energy for a brief moment of "enlightenment" when you can do it without ejaculation and have as many orgasms in a row as you wish. It takes time to become proficient of course, but once you get there you will think "oh my gosh why I didn't do this before". After a month or two you will have so much energy and you'll be able to use it in your work life and you will achieve wonders. Also, when you stop ejaculating so often, you develop a very genuine love and appreciation for your woman and it lasts forever - every day, every moment. Not just when you're hungry for sex.
6. No animal food. Nobody has to die in order to feed you. Look how strong the bulls, horses, etc. are and they don't eat animals - only plant-based food. Eating the dead mass pollutes your brain, body, emotions. It's especially bad in the current times because meat is mass produced in industrial farms, the life for those animals is constant pain and suffering. When you eat it, you take all of that suffering and pain into you. If you're not conscious you won't feel it because being stimulated by dead food is your normal state of being and you haven't experienced any better. But as you become more conscious you will naturally stop eating what you don't need. If you need motivation watch the movie "Dominion" to see the truth. It's filmed with hidden cameras in actual farms and it shows the real situation. If you see a logo with a smiling pig on your sausage packaging and you believe in that, then you're very unaware of what's going on. But of course it's not just about what animals experience. Read books about veganism/vegetarianism to find out all the other reasons for stopping eating animals.
7. No processed sugars. Sugar is a killer. Try to feel how your tongue reacts when it first touches a piece of sugary chocolate (like Milka) or candy. It's extreme. And how does it feel when you eat a fruit, which contains natural sugars? It's a completely different world. Processed sugars kick you out from the position of poise, balance and strength. Stay away. If you want a sweet after lunch - eat a fresh date. It's sooo tasty, invigorating and it's coming directly from Nature - it truly is the gift from God. Why on Earth humans invented all those cakes, candies, etc. when we have dates?
8. Remember who you are. You're a soul having a terrestrial experience. It's not the other way around (as in "body having a soul"). But it's not enough to read it to understand, because you're using your mind for that. You need to experience yourself as a soul. You need to realise your immortality through your direct experience. Find your ways to do it because I'm not a spiritual teacher. But once you experience that, you will become very strong. If you see yourself as a body then you're very weak as there's no purpose to live and you find your ways to shorten your miserable life by consuming toxic substances, because you're always in search of immediate gratifications and you want an escape. However, if you see yourself as a soul then you're very committed to maintaining your best health because you know why you're here and you have majestic goals to achieve. You understand that you're the child of God who is no worse than God itself and you're here to create, explore and collect experiences. You have so much to do, the life force is in you and you can't wait to get out of bed every morning and live this beautiful life. And all of the points about "not doing" or "doing" that you read in this article are much harder to implement if you haven't discovered your true self (soul) yet. Because every time you try to follow a rule you get this question deep down "what's the point if I'm going to die anyway, I'd better drink some beer today". But if you've remembered who you truly are, you will not have this question because you will be pro-life and following these rules will not feel like rules at all.
9. Breath. Live in a place where air quality is good, breath deeply, do breathing exercises, use neti pot to clean your nostrils every morning. Oxygen is energy, and you need to be able to consume oxygen in the most efficient way.
10. No stress. Don't live in big cities, don't drive in traffic jams. This is an extremely soul-sucking, mentally and emotionally taxing way of life. Don't do anything that creates a bad type of stress for you. There's a good type of stress as well - when you feel an urge to complete a grand project that is coming from the soul level. Deep down you know the difference - don't try to fool yourself.
11. Get up early. No excuse. 5am alarm clock at latest or you won't achieve your peak state. Read the book "5am club" by Robin Sharma and it will help you a lot. It is translated into many languages and it's probably there waiting at your local library for you to take it, read it and execute it!
12. Exercise. It's the first thing that you must do after you get up, go to pee and drink 2 cups of warm water. 20min of intensive (sweat producing!) workout. It will get rid of all of the hormones that are putting you into your usual morning's lifeless, "I can't do anything" mood. Yes, it's simply hormones, it's not the real you. Just do that freaking 20min workout and you will be amazed how easily you've become invincible again, and it's not even 6am yet!
13. Meditate. After work out - 20min meditation. Essential if you want to trade with 100% discipline. No excuse. If you can't sit straight for 20min you have no control over your life. If you want self-mastery, do it. Also while meditating you will get rid of all the stupid thoughts that have accumulated during the night. Those thoughts are killing you and pushing you away from your peak performance state.
14. Read. After meditation - 20min reading. I currently read spiritual/health related books during this time, but it's up to you. I wouldn't read about trading during this time because this is working and this time is not meant for working yet. You should read something that feeds the soul.

P.S. It doesn't mean that I'm a hero and I do all of the above points 100%. When I go to a coffeeshop I sometimes (once in 2 weeks on average) drink decaf coffee which still contains 3% caffeine content just because I like the taste of coffee and it also has a bit of positive effects for the body. But what's important is how I feel - I don't get high from just 3% of regular caffeine dose in coffee, I still keep myself calm, poised, balanced and that's what is important. However, if you drink regular coffee then you get affected heavily and you lose your self control. 

When it comes to sugar - I am not 100% clean. Even though we read the contents label of each product that we buy, it's still very hard to keep track of everything especially when you eat out. In the restaurants if we want dessert we always ask if they have sugar-free desserts. In most cases they have one or a few options, but in other cases they don't and then we don't order dessert. But even the sauces that they use for main courses may contain processed sugars. So it's hard to be 100% clean but if you maintain attention on what you eat then you will be at least 90% clean and that will already be a big change. You will feel and act very differently, you will be much stronger and in control of yourself, and that will be enough.

When it comes to getting up at 5am and the following routines - I only do it weekdays. On the weekends we usually get up 6-8am and the morning routine is left to our own creativity. If I wanted a stronger result I'd need to do it on weekends as well, but at this moment I feel that weekdays are enough. It depends on your goals. By the way, in the past I was usually the guy who went to sleep late and woke up late as well and I thought it's my natural cycle. If you think the same then it's bullshit because with the power of your will you can recondition your body and mind. If I did, you can do it too.

Also we're not monks and we're not totally disattached from the world. Sometimes we eat vegetarian or vegan pizza or another kind of stupid food because the world is there to explore. The pizza crust contains sugar. Oh well. We're perfect by not being perfect. But what I care about is the end result. 90% is often enough, but if you want extreme results then you need to go for 100%.

With all other points I'm doing them without any exceptions, 100%. Some of them I've been practicing for multiple years, some others for a few months. As I mentioned earlier, I only wrote here the things that did actually work for me and increased my strength as a man. No bullshit, no sugar coating, just raw experience.

P.S. I'm not a monster nor hero nor guru and there's no guarantee that I will continue these practices for the rest of my life. Due to my writing style many people see me as an alien or some sort of Jesus Christ but I'm not. I'll do my best not to attach to any idea, routine, practice, etc. because attachment creates a lot of problems. If the next year you find me drinking whiskey and smoking a cigar in your local bar then don't be surprised. As souls we're here to experience everything, not just the healthy and shiny side of life. 

Now the most important question: which ones are you going to do to improve yourself as a man? I advise you to at least try all and see for yourself. It's hard to start with all of them at once, but if you're determined enough then you can. I didn't. I went step by step. No revolutions, just evolution. Evolution is slower than revolution, but more reliable. It's up to you to choose. Become a master of yourself and it will be easier to become the master of trading. All the best.