So I finally developed some good habits that make me money.
The good habits
1. Not overleveraging myself
2. Going with the trend
The bad habits
1. exiting a trade too early
2. Always wanting to be in a trade which forces my mind to try to find patterns where there are none (this one I only do when i've made alot of money early in the day, which coincidently, wipes out my profits for that same day pretty quick.)
3. Thinking i need to be in and out of a trade in the same day or as early as possible(this one only comes up when i have made alot of money in a quick amount of time which makes me think i need to keep trading like that...sort of like when you get off the freeway doing 80 mph and then you are on a 25 mph road...its hard to not do 40 or faster on that road)
The "I dont know" habit.
1. I dont use stops. I hear so many traders say to use stops, but whenever i use them, they get hit and I have found they hurt me more than help me when my trade spikes. I dont know...maybe my stop losses are just too close.
I know if I break those habit #2 and #3 my win rate will really go up. Right now I pick about 65% winners vs 35% losers. My winners are only very slightly higher than my losers about 1.075 to 1 which will also go up if I break bad habit #1...but on the other hand, bad habit #1 has saved me before too. For instance yesterday, when i thought I was riding a trend, but I got out early because I was too tired to keep watching. Turned out I got out at just the right time as thats where it reversed. But then this morning, i got out too early and if i wouldve stayed in my profits would have been 3 fold for that trade so when you see stuff like that, it just makes it harder to break the habit.
What are your guys bad habits/good habits?
The good habits
1. Not overleveraging myself
2. Going with the trend
The bad habits
1. exiting a trade too early
2. Always wanting to be in a trade which forces my mind to try to find patterns where there are none (this one I only do when i've made alot of money early in the day, which coincidently, wipes out my profits for that same day pretty quick.)
3. Thinking i need to be in and out of a trade in the same day or as early as possible(this one only comes up when i have made alot of money in a quick amount of time which makes me think i need to keep trading like that...sort of like when you get off the freeway doing 80 mph and then you are on a 25 mph road...its hard to not do 40 or faster on that road)
The "I dont know" habit.
1. I dont use stops. I hear so many traders say to use stops, but whenever i use them, they get hit and I have found they hurt me more than help me when my trade spikes. I dont know...maybe my stop losses are just too close.
I know if I break those habit #2 and #3 my win rate will really go up. Right now I pick about 65% winners vs 35% losers. My winners are only very slightly higher than my losers about 1.075 to 1 which will also go up if I break bad habit #1...but on the other hand, bad habit #1 has saved me before too. For instance yesterday, when i thought I was riding a trend, but I got out early because I was too tired to keep watching. Turned out I got out at just the right time as thats where it reversed. But then this morning, i got out too early and if i wouldve stayed in my profits would have been 3 fold for that trade so when you see stuff like that, it just makes it harder to break the habit.
What are your guys bad habits/good habits?