Once upon a time, I used to trade stocks. There would be days when I would buy something at a hundred rupees in the morning and then sell it at a hundred and ten in the afternoon before trading closed for the day, pocketing a ten percent profit.

And then I'd beat myself up about not making more.

Why?

Because the stock would open the day at a hundred rupees. An hour later, it would be at a hundred and fifteen. Two hours later, it would be at ninety five. And finally, before trading closed for the day, it would be at a hundred and ten.

The maximum potential on this day was to buy it at hundred when trading opened, then sell it at a hundred and fifteen an hour later. Then buy it again at ninety five and then sell it again at a hundred and ten. By doing this, I would have made closer to fifty percent as opposed to the ten percent that I actually made.

And hence, I'd beat myself up about it. As there were some that made all these calls, and some more that made a portion of these calls, like only buying when it was at ninety five and selling at a hundred and ten.

And this was one day. And every weekday is a trading day. That is so many calls to potentially get right.

We do this in life too. We beat ourselves up over not having gotten every call right or over not having gotten as many calls right as some of our peers. What we tend to forget in the process is that we are still coming out ten percent ahead of where we started off.

If we get every call right, we stand to make that fifty percent day after day after day.

But it's alright when we don't. It's also alright to get fewer calls right than others that are trading stocks. All that matters is to end the day with a profit.

To improve just one percent in whatever we are doing each day.