You are learning...But, you need to understand WHY...Originally posted by aphexcoil
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I don't feel anxiety trading SPY or QQQ. I don't understand it. I can sit there and calmly trade QQQ and SPY and make small scalps effortlessly, but as soon as I enter into the market with ES, I feel like there is a loaded pistol pointed at my head.
No junior, what separates you from some here is that some of us have spent YEARS learning and honing our craft to a fine edge before we even uttered the first word about our own trading.What separates me from a lot of other "cowards" on this board is that I'm not afraid to expose myself to the world.
Originally posted by aphexcoil
-- but it seems to me that trading really is 90% emotional control / discipline. You could take any system with a slight edge and use some creativity to get ahead *IF* you can master your head.
Originally posted by aphexcoil
I see a lot of posts on this board that say, "Trading is a mirror, etc." All of this, to me, is purely psychobabble and worthless. Why is it worthless? Because it is vague, undefined and non-applicable. If I went to work tomorrow and taught a new golfer how to golf by saying, "Golf is the essence of a good swing and the exclusion of a bad swing." -- The guy would leave, demand his money back and never come back again. It is pure horse-shit.
Like anything else in life, if you want to get good at something, you have to work your ass off. Those sayings can be appreciated AFTER you learn how to be successful at what you are doing and not before.
Trading and Golf are very similar. There is a basic concept of a correct and fundamental "modern golf swing." However, you will see guys out on the tour that have very different swings. What does this tell you? It tells you that what works for one person will not work for another -- one man's method to a million is another man's certainty to bankruptcy.
"Yada yada yada ..." -- BUT, in the end, you've got to do your own thing and find your way.
You're going to encounter a lot of people in your life who will make every attempt to shoot you down or tell you it can't be done. I have countless stories of Tiger Woods suffering from that on a daily basis as a kid / young adult player.
Put yourself outside the circle of bullshit, psychobabble and endless river of "this is how you do it" systems and go take a walk, clear your mind and start from scratch.
Robert,Originally posted by rtharp
Alphie does your post above have more meaning with you now looking at this quote?
"When you trade your monitor will do a funny thing. It will become a mirror. A special type of mirror. A mirror that reflects your self-confidence, your self-esteem, your self-worth. The numbers and lines you see on your screen are just that, numbers and lines. Market information. At your choosing, when you decide to become part of those numbers and lines (putting on/off the trade) a sort of test begins. A test about you.
If you see the test as threatening, you will feel threatened. If you see the test as war, you will be engaging in war. If you see the test as one more failure, you will fail. If you see the test as the need to prove yourself right, you will administered the pain of being wrong. If you see the test as certainty, you will be rudely introduced to uncertainty. If you see the test as a battle of wills, you will sacrifice your soul. If you see the test as fear or loss of money, you will be giving away your scared money.
If you see and believe the test to be an exchange of information, you now become the one to confirm or deny information. If you believe the test to be one of giving up what you want in order to get it, you will get it. Get it?"
Robert
