Signal v Noise
In trading, there’s a saying: Don’t fight every candle. A candle is just one bar on the price chart, a moment in time. Some candles mean something. Most don’t. They’re fluctuations, not patterns.
Professionals don’t trade every flicker on the screen. They define their levels, wait for structure, seek confirmation. They act when it’s time, not when it feels urgent.
The same is true at work: most things aren’t signals. They’re just motion, noise. People vent. Processes glitch. Deadlines shift. Stakeholders get cold feet. None of it necessarily means you have to move.
But when you’re new, uncertain, or eager to prove yourself, it’s easy to mistake movement for meaning. Every Slack ping feels urgent, every silence feels personal, every small comment loops in your head.
The Energy Drain
That’s how energy drains. People burn out not from big things, but from constantly reacting to small ones. Being constantly “on.”
Early in your career, everything feels like it might be a threat. A strange look from a manager, an awkward silence in a meeting, a new process that doesn’t make sense yet. You react, constantly adjusting your position. Trying to anticipate every change, cover every angle, be ready for anything.
Before you know it, you’re chasing noise.
Define Your Levels
What actually matters? What breaks the deal? What’s just market noise?
Signal: Your manager directly questions your judgment on something important. Your project timeline shifts by weeks. A key stakeholder withdraws support.
Noise: Someone seems distracted in a meeting. A process change gets announced. Casual feedback that doesn’t affect your core responsibilities.
When you have this clarity, you don’t overreact. You can scan the field without getting pulled into it. Observe without absorbing. You know when to move, when to wait, and when to ignore entirely.
The calm ones get seen as most strategic. They’re not chasing validation, they’re executing their plan. They watch the flow and know when not to move. While others panic-trade their energy on every workplace fluctuation, they stay focused on what actually drives results.
Set your structure. Know what matters. Let others chase every candle while you wait for the real signals.
That’s not being passive. That’s being professional.