Best Trading Psychology Books

[Dollardogs]

Hot take alert: I can't stand Mark Douglas' books. I find them jargony, padded with lots of pseudo-philosophical mumbo jumbo. I've found these two books much more substantive and helpful:

Trade Mindfully by Gary Dayton
The Psychology of Risk by Ari Kiev

I'm finally at that stage where emotional discipline is holding me back more than technical know-how, which I take overall as a good sign, but I really want to improve my trading pyschology soon. So what are some of your favorite books in this area?

 

[TheMordy]

So what are some of your favorite books in this area?

Trading Psychology 2.0 by Brett Steenbarger

 

[deaddog]

 

[Dollardogs]

Never heard of that one, I'll check er out, thanks!

 

[Sprout]

Hot take alert: I can't stand Mark Douglas' books. I find them jargony, padded with lots of pseudo-philosophical mumbo jumbo. I've found these two books much more substantive and helpful:

Trade Mindfully by Gary Dayton
The Psychology of Risk by Ari Kiev

I'm finally at that stage where emotional discipline is holding me back more than technical know-how, which I take overall as a good sign, but I really want to improve my trading pyschology soon. So what are some of your favorite books in this area?

Backtesting 101, 1st chapter 500 trades

Unless one is invested in being a discretionary trader, literally just makes any psychology book irrelevant.

It's the path to develop a ruleset, the conditions that give the strategy high-probability, then your only job is just to execute and let the odds work in your favor.

 

[Dollardogs]

Backtesting 101, 1st chapter 500 trades

Unless one is invested in being a discretionary trader, literally just makes any psychology book irrelevant.

It's the path to develop a ruleset, the conditions that give the strategy high-probability, then your only job is just to execute and let the odds work in your favor.

My system is discretionary enough that I need to master the psychology side of things.

 

[Handle123]

I believe hypnosis worked best for me.

 

[speedo]

As we know there a a lot more competent technicians in the world than consistently profitable traders. Behavior is where the rubber meets the road and there is nothing wrong with reading the psych books but the underlying question is "How do I become disciplined enough to follow my rules" and "How do I get comfortable with risk and it's uncertainty." The answer is simple but sure as hell not easy...you have to do what you need to do, ie follow your rules and bear the pain of the brain telling you to get out of danger. You have to become friends with discomfort and uncertainty until your actions become habit by how ever many trades it takes for you. This of course assumes that you have the technical acumen and testing history to show an edge over a series of trades.

 

[mikeriley]

Unfortunately reading does little to change
one's psychology or bad habits. It takes
actual techniques following a structured
plan of action to change.

 

[maxinger]

There is no best psychology book in the world.
So stop looking for the holy grail book.

You have to try different things & see which works for you
eg
hypnosis
psycho cybernetics
mindful meditation
qi meditation
yoga
tapping meridian points
be spiritual / pray to Trading God or whatever
...