Unfocus

Learning to perform complex tasks requires a lot of training and deliberate practice. Some tasks could be so complex that it cannot be learned as “Whole”. Complexity of challenges may cause people to freeze or ignore the situation. This will lead to disasters.

The only way to learn such a complex task is to sub divide it into many manageable fragments and focus on these one by one. Remember how we learned to drive a car. We were taught to use the steering wheel, clutch, brake, gear and accelerator pedal. We were told to concentrate on the road, pay attention to the rear view and side mirrors. It was easy learning it one by one.

The real problem was integrating all these learning. We always forgot to depress the clutch while shifting gears and failed to reduce the accelerator while depressing clutch. The vehicle zigzagged when we shifted gears. It really took a lot of deliberate practice to learn the task and to achieve “Automaticity”

Integration of all these focused learning is very important. Integration means to bring together. It is an act of combining or adding parts to make a unified ‘whole’. Integration is critical to success.

Integration is achieved by “ Unfocusing” . ‘Unfocusing’ is to stop focusing on a component and to concentrate on the ‘whole’ thing. We gain clarity of the whole of the situation. We are able to quickly make better decisions and perform the task as a ‘whole’

Knowing all about the DPs , trade setups, and all other concepts will not make us a successful trader. These are all individual components. The successful integration of these knowledge matters.

We cannot leave integration to chance. Integration does not happen by itself and needs constant attention and practice It is only when we learn to unfocus, to pull back and sense the ‘whole’, that we achieve the clarity we need to move ahead.