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2014 SUMMMARY: Decided to take a break from trading as we go into the holiday season. So planning to not do any trading until January, 2015. I will keep this journal going, but may open up a new journal thread. I will also be starting fresh with TopstepTrader on my goal of trading OPM. So...

Day #30 - Did my normal prep, and went into the day feeling good about the day. One thing that I hesitated on, was that traditionally I don't do well on EIA report and FOMC days, but I thought I would push through that fear and just trade. Today was a volatile day, and before I knew it I was...

Day #29 - Went into the day with a focus on following my morning prep, and trying to maintain a DGAF attitude. I would say I probably kept that attitude about 80% of the time, which actually helped me. Two things really stood out to me today: 1) I exited a trade prematurely with a small win...

Day #28 - Slept in a bit, after a very busy weekend. Started the day off in a good frame of mind with a winning trade. A trade I just took automatically, hardly even thinking about it. Of interest, the trade was over with and a profit booked... and then when I started to think about it...

@wwatson1 I can only assume you weren't trading back in 2008 when the world financial system blew up. Tons of guys trading the way you described were margin called... lots of firms bankrupt as those floating losses just killed them. I was trading it all, such as the day the Dow dropped 900...

They are pretty liberal with what you choose to trade, as long as it has reasonable volume. Lots of traders active in CL, ES and YM. CL is attractive to many because of the daily volatility, as it gives you many opportunities to make ticks and still meet TST guidelines, such as being flat by...

@wrbtrader sigh, are you my conscience? lol Yes, very good questions... and sincerely, thanks for bringing this up. 1) I should not be trading my own account. I went into this back in November, saying I wouldn't trade my own account as I was focused on this next step. Just so much...

Day #27 - Slept like a baby, and woke up ready for the day. Went through my standard morning ritual and made sure I was ready to sit down and trade. The first part of trading was tough, it was choppy... you would be up, and then suddenly the market would move against you. For my daily goal, I...

Day #26 - Decided to just trade today, and again try to get into that same attitude. Started well, and I could feel myself start to get into that zone of trading where I was analyzing correctly and just going with the methodology without much fear. Felt like a good place to trade from...

Day #25 - Woke up rested and ready to trade. Decided that I should try to "recapture" this feeling of DGAF attitude and see if I could trade from that. I also had some new rules I was going to establish, but decided that today I would just trade normal... but focus on trying to keep my winners...

Thanks. My psych coach mentioned a similar thing about the value, and to try and remember that feeling and work on bringing it back as needed. I like that, "trader mindset nirvanan".

Agreed that for now I need to modify my trading rules temporarily to deal with the challenge I have of cutting my winners short. @NoDoji is absolutely correct, that I would have passed the combine all ready had I simply stuck with my game plan. At times I have seen something setup, that I was...

Day #24 - Woke up, and in the frame of mind to just trade. Hard to state, but I had a DGAF attitude for most of the day and was just focused on taking the trades. I also had a early session with my psych coach, and talked about the day yesterday. It was an interesting session, and we went...

Went for a drive, and thought this through some more. I just have to admit it as much as I hate to do so... bottom line, I was greedy. That is why I put that third contract on. Which then lead to other errors, such as: 1) No longer comfortable with my risk 2) Closed out a trade with...

Day #23 - Slept awesome after a great weekend. Went into the day feeling good about trading crude, and looking for the sell off. I felt great about trading, and had decided I would just trade normal... no experiment, and just take regular trades. I tried a couple of trades, and got stopped...

Brewing Ideas: Before I read the previous posts, I need to journal something that has been rolling through my brain... In previous trading experience, I may have instilled wrong habits which then in times of stressful trading my brain wants to default to these habits as the structure that it is...

@Redneck why not! :) I am open to ideas, and would be glad to view that initial list. Much thanks, may the generosity come back to you many times over. I've considered the idea of adjusting my focus to the "right" thing to do in trading, and it is something I will be discussing with my psych...

Believe me, I have been! This is why Thursday he had me do a several trades and just push through the fear. I know the reason, it comes from growing up in an environment that if you were "wrong" (that means sinning) then you were going to hell. So doing the "right" thing has huge significance...

Stats update:

Day #22 - Woke up and went through my regular routine of prepping for the day. I set myself a goal that I wanted to break the $1000 barrier today, but only trading 1 lot and adding 1 more lot to the winners. I missed taking a very good trade, with a great setup because I was just too worried...