People often treat smooth price as proof that something is working. I’ve noticed, over and over, that the moves I later respect usually didn’t feel smooth while I was watching them.
What throws me is how much quiet friction shows up when things are actually being built. Price stalls where it “shouldn’t,” reactions feel late, and the tape looks a little bored with itself. It’s uncomfortable in a very specific way. Not dramatic enough to explain, not clean enough to admire.
I catch myself wanting confirmation there. Volume, follow-through, anything obvious. But lived experience keeps nudging me the other way. When a move is too easy to read, it often feels like it’s already been read.
There’s also the internal tug-of-war. Patience feels lazy. Engagement feels forced. I’m never fully convinced which one I’m doing in the moment.
Over time, I’ve started paying less attention to how confident a move looks, and more to how much effort it seems to take just to exist.
How often do we mistake clarity for health?