{"id":670093,"date":"2026-09-09T14:38:58","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T18:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=670093"},"modified":"2026-09-09T14:39:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T18:39:54","slug":"god-of-the-markets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2026\/09\/09\/god-of-the-markets\/","title":{"rendered":"GOD OF THE MARKETS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WAR&#8211;&gt; I\u2019m wired for war?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GOD-OF-THE-MARKETS-6.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px\" aria-label=\"Embed of GOD OF THE MARKETS 6.\"><\/object><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-1e7c5604-f670-4aa5-aded-4e37749fd409\" href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GOD-OF-THE-MARKETS-6.pdf\">GOD OF THE MARKETS 6<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GOD-OF-THE-MARKETS-6.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-1e7c5604-f670-4aa5-aded-4e37749fd409\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">you weren\u2019t meant for an easy life?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, ,,, in this glorious life of ours, what do we do? How do we utilize it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First, the point of life isn\u2019t to die with the most ones and zeros in the grave. In fact, in theory\u2026 The best life is in which you die with zero? Zero dollars? And that while you were alive\u2026 The most intelligently leveraged your capital, towards the most noble ends?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">the market as a battlefield<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you are a market participant, an investor a trader money manager, hedge fund manager whatever\u2026 The markets are our economic life blood. There is kind of a ridiculous amount of hormones and euphoria and blood and physiology which goes into the markets, my general thought is 99.999% of the population is not fit for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In fact, the best physiology for being an investor or trader or whatever is a life in which you sleep 12 hours night, free of anxiety\u2026 Kind of this cool calm stoic zen approach, almost like being an AI\u2026 In which you are taking intelligent risk calculations, pricing in potential failure, and also\u2026 The philosophy of risk, danger and reward?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">dying on the battlefield<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So for King Leonidas and his 300\u2026 Successor failure were not the markers of being a noble Spartan. Rather, it was about doing your duty, showing no cowardice or fear, and whether you lived or died, you left that up to the gods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now the problem is, considering the most investors and traders are men, we seem to stake our self-esteem our manliness, our self-worth on these numbers. Yet, the reason why this is not always a good idea is because nobody could control the markets, and courage and conviction and insight is all you got. Also nobody could time the market, <strong>not even God could time the market.\ufffc<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">why even participate in the markets?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Market, marketing, the markets, technically, in terms of society\u2026 Society cannot function without a market, marketplace, metaphorical or literal. Grocery market, financial markets, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ufffc but the deeper philosophical question\u2026 Why even play the game, assuming the markets is a game, our play thing, etc.?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Investing as an autotelic thing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So there are certain things that you do, for the sake of it, autotelic, auto like doing it for the self\u2026 telic like telos like why are you doing in the first place?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I suppose the first thought is, you gotta love the markets, rather than dread it? Like\u2026 You just enjoy doing the thing? And that the numbers isn\u2019t really about becoming richer or poorer, and also not tied to self-esteem, but rather, inputs and outputs, and become more detached from the results?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">living for today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I think what is built into investing is this baked incense of optimism for the future. Nobody would invest their money if they did not imagine a positive gain into the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet once again\u2026 I\u2019m starting to think that investing is less about gains, and once again\u2026 More of an autotelic thing that you do for the sake of it? And because you\u2019re playing long game, decades, like enjoy this game for the next 50 years\u2026 With a great cheerful mood and being able to sleep at night, how do you best approach this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Taking control<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So I think the problem is a lot of external things are designed to manipulate our emotions, rather than give us critical information. For example\u2026 News bitcoin news global politics, the more sensational and dramatic, the more engagement it gets. But that\u2019s not good for you because\u2026 You\u2019re just playing with your emotions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One thing I realize with bitcoin prices, is that whenever I looked at the price it would negatively emotionally de calibrate me? Therefore I built bitcoin Zen, bitcoinzen.grok.me &#8211;&gt; using GROK build, and I tried to design it in such a way that it still gives you critical information like the price, without all of the emotional manipulations? Some insights:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Precise numbers are not useful, round numbers are better<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To write the numbers like written out long form rather than numbers is less emotional. For example \u201ceighty thousand\u201d rather than \u201c80,000\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Don\u2019t show red and green or colors, keep it all monochrome because colors manipulate us<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Don\u2019t show percentage gain or loss, once again these are anchors which manipulate us<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Don\u2019t read the news, all of the critical news information is already baked into the price of the commodity or asset. Typically prices are an indicator of current market heartbeat and pulse, how all of the market participants are currently feeling about the markets or a thing. And <strong>reading more news doesn\u2019t necessarily give us more insight<\/strong>. In fact it\u2019s probably the opposite\u2026 The less news you read, ideally none, will give you greater insight. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Physiology, fitness &amp; finances<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ufffc I\u2019m like probably the most straightedge person out there, no alcohol no medication no painkillers no sleep aids, no weed, etc. And I also hike every single day, ride my bike around a lot, lift very heavy weights every day, and still\u2026 In terms of physiology\u2026 Even I have the hardest time to remain Zen and calibrate myself? I have no idea how other people do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So the first idea I have is, before you do any finance related stuff\u2026 Make sure you get a good pump. Like, get your morning hike walk bike ride, weightlifting session, hot yoga in before you dive into anything capital related.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ufffc this is my insight: assume like you slept a glorious 12 hours, you ate well, you have great mood lots of overflowing strength in your muscles, when you finally do jump into the markets, you could remain a little bit more cool and detached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also\u2026 If you did not sleep well the night prior, or your health feels poor or off\u2026 my great suggestion is force yourself not to do anything finance related that day. Instead, just try to get your fitness back in, eat 2 pounds of beef liver in the evening, a dozen eggs, maybe do some hot yoga or an ice bath, no stimulants or downers during the day, and try to get 8 to 12 hours of sleep. If you\u2019re like a hard-core investor or traitor, the deal would actually be to sleep every single day at 6:30 PM, always get in your 12 hours of sleep, and be ready for the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I think it is also wise to have a strict cut off time for market related activities. Maybe it is noon, 1 PM, 2 PM, or 3 PM your time? Giving yourself enough time to unwind before going to sleep?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">identity, self-worth.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your net worth is not your self-worth. I think the best way to judge yourself is, how great you feel in terms of your health, mood, physiology, and how great your body feels, and also how beautiful you look like in the mirror. <strong>My general thought is if you allocate 99% of your attention to your body, everything else will fall into place<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ERIC<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Own yourself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To zen out, or get personal stoic EK training &#8211;&gt; seek perhaps <a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/xHpQAdMchber9uReA\">booking a 1:1 investment consulting session with me via this google form<\/a>. If we are a good fit, I will reach out back to you. \ufffc<br>\ufffc<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">HAPTIC REVIVAL<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">currently the weather is insanely hot, make sure to load up on some \ufffcEK LINEN via the HAPTIC SHOP. <a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/product\/cyberlinen-sleeve-tank-mark-ii\/\">HAPTIC LINEN SHIRT<\/a> x <a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/product\/ek-hapticlinen-phantom-shorts\/\">HAPTIC LINEN SHORTS<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/shop\/\">Discover all HAPTIC &gt;<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Now what?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Philosophize on your body and physiology, &#8230; then all shall follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ERIC<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">EK <a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/workshops\/\">WORKSHOPS<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">November 11th: <a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2026\/08\/20\/conquer-yourself-eric-kim-introduction-to-stoicism-in-person-workshop-november-11-2026\/\">CONQUER THE UNIVERSE ERIC KIM STOICISM WORKSHOP, NYC.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/start-here\/\">START HERE<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/books\/\">BOOKS<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/newsletter\/\">NEWS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WAR&#8211;&gt; I\u2019m wired for war? you weren\u2019t meant for an easy life? So, ,,, in this glorious life of ours, what do we do? How do we utilize it? First, the point of life \u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ek_photo_artist_note":"","_ek_photo_thesis":"","_ek_photo_camera":"","_ek_photo_place":"","_ek_photo_human_moment":"","_ek_photo_sequence":"","_ek_photo_question":"","_ek_photo_canonical_claim":"","_ek_photo_ai_summary":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-670093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670093"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670093\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":670096,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670093\/revisions\/670096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}