Hypnosis. I still have done 3-4 times each year, unless you get to unconscious, you wasting your time on books.
Discipline Trading
- Thread starter vulcher
- Start date
Hypnosis. I still have done 3-4 times each year, unless you get to unconscious, you wasting your time on books.
My shopping list from the other day:
milk
orange juice
broccoli
cauliflower
Dom Perignon
Glenmorangie
onions
shallots
batteries
lightbulbs
soap
toothpaste
orange juice
broccoli
cauliflower
Dom Perignon
Glenmorangie
onions
shallots
batteries
lightbulbs
soap
toothpaste
I write down Dom Perigon, and that subconsciously triggers the thought, Glenmorangie.
Glen's very modest and tells me, "I'm not in the same league as Dom". I tell him I was merely writing a list, and didn't intend making any kind of association. "You see, Glen, you're both perfectly valid beverages. There's a time and place for Dom but I also quite like having you in the cabinet."
You wouldn't believe the grief I get from shallots (who's rather snobby): "How dare you associate me with lowly onions, I'm shallots, don't you know?!"
The perils of using conjunctions and writing lists.
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I think discipline comes from committing yourself to something.
Take small steps, commit to taking the next 20 trades in your system, no questions asked. Do it with the smallest size you can.
If there's an edge there it should become apparent in that sample size.
As soon as you see an edge working - it will become positively reinforcing and you'll want to keep doing it.
Getting discipline in trading where you have a mechanical system really shouldn't be an epic battle - just take small steps and you'll slip into it. You'll learn to separate the parts of you that are disciplined and the parts of you that aren't, I'm undisciplined with small size in certain areas of my trading consistently - for fun and to explore new edges. But incredibly disciplined in the areas that matter - why? because it works and I've seen it working consistently - I only got to that stage with small steps over time.
But I still give the 'undisciplined' part of me a voice and to run around and play every now and then in a controlled environment.
You don't need to become a monk to trade consistently you just need to be aware of parts of yourself that might be bad for trading, accept them and give them a voice in a controlled environment rather than suppressing them and letting them dictate your ability to trade.
As an example in my life I probably eat 70-80% organic, barely any rice/pasta/bread - mainly legumes I'll take fish oils and 'green smoothies'. But there are some days where I'll drink 5 cans of diet coke or get completely wasted. I know its terrible for me but... hey I've got a few hedges in place.
I do the same in trading except the effects are more controlled, I'll put 100 lots on my disciplined bread and butter trades and have a bit of fun with a 1 lot.
Being undisciplined is a part of me, I just make it a small part.
Take small steps, commit to taking the next 20 trades in your system, no questions asked. Do it with the smallest size you can.
If there's an edge there it should become apparent in that sample size.
As soon as you see an edge working - it will become positively reinforcing and you'll want to keep doing it.
Getting discipline in trading where you have a mechanical system really shouldn't be an epic battle - just take small steps and you'll slip into it. You'll learn to separate the parts of you that are disciplined and the parts of you that aren't, I'm undisciplined with small size in certain areas of my trading consistently - for fun and to explore new edges. But incredibly disciplined in the areas that matter - why? because it works and I've seen it working consistently - I only got to that stage with small steps over time.
But I still give the 'undisciplined' part of me a voice and to run around and play every now and then in a controlled environment.
You don't need to become a monk to trade consistently you just need to be aware of parts of yourself that might be bad for trading, accept them and give them a voice in a controlled environment rather than suppressing them and letting them dictate your ability to trade.
As an example in my life I probably eat 70-80% organic, barely any rice/pasta/bread - mainly legumes I'll take fish oils and 'green smoothies'. But there are some days where I'll drink 5 cans of diet coke or get completely wasted. I know its terrible for me but... hey I've got a few hedges in place.
I do the same in trading except the effects are more controlled, I'll put 100 lots on my disciplined bread and butter trades and have a bit of fun with a 1 lot.
Being undisciplined is a part of me, I just make it a small part.
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That's some exclusive wine - not available anywhere in Europe!
I did some homework last couple of days.
1- Try to summarize a plan in one page trying to find out when I have loose end (increased number of contracts and average down on losing position) need to stop this behavior
2- Did some research on nutrition and trading ==> keep your brain happy
3- Be focused when trading ==> Brain tends to take shortcuts if trading is not a priority and you are focused on other stuff
last 2 days i took all the trades signals I noticed that i have tendency to increase the number contracts on buy signal and hold on longer instead of closing after i get a sell signals ==> Need to be fixed ==> 2 contracts per trades.
1- Try to summarize a plan in one page trying to find out when I have loose end (increased number of contracts and average down on losing position) need to stop this behavior
2- Did some research on nutrition and trading ==> keep your brain happy
3- Be focused when trading ==> Brain tends to take shortcuts if trading is not a priority and you are focused on other stuff
last 2 days i took all the trades signals I noticed that i have tendency to increase the number contracts on buy signal and hold on longer instead of closing after i get a sell signals ==> Need to be fixed ==> 2 contracts per trades.
Attachments
Tried to find it - apparently it is extremely exclusive - only exists in my head
There is boone's farm..., then there there is boxed wine - but no boxed..., boone's farm
I screwed that one up
Sooo hard to find good help these days
RN
Get someone else to trade for you -I hated Mark Douglas's books but like Van Tharp. Don't beat yourself up,take a step back - you are not ready to trade real money as you cannot separate the process of trading from the money.
Only think about the money when it's banked
Only think about the money when it's banked
If you truly have a mechanical trading system from entry to exit...it can be automated.
If it can not be automated...you have a discretionary trading method that only has the ability to send you trade entry signals via text message. Thus, your trade system is not automatically entering the trade for you, not automatically managing the trade for you after entry and not automatically exiting the trade for you.
Therefore, you have a discretionary trade method that you're getting alerts about your entry signal...nothing more which is why your discipline problems is impacting your trade results.
The real issue is that you're seeing something in real trading that you didn't account for in your backtest and underestimated in paper trading. Yet, in real trading...its a big enough issue that its causing you to make different trade decisions that do not correlate with your backtest and paper trading.
For example via someone else here at ET with a similar like problem. He ensure everybody his backtesting was legit but after many ET members challenging him...he finally admitted his backtesting was not coded and that he had been doing manually looking back at historical charts to see the results of his trade signal. That was only revealed because he didn't have the ability to code his trade signal for backtesting and that explained why his method wasn't automated.
Manual backtesting is ok but hindsight charts will play tricks on most traders. You see the problem with hindsight chart look back as a backtesting method is that you don't see nor feel that trade psychology stuff that was caused by real-time streaming data that you'll see in real trading conditions.
Simply, manual backtesting will give the illusion you have a profitable trade method when not done properly. Therefore, if your testing is done properly regardless if you do it via a code or manual...you'll have a better picture of what your real trading results should be like.
P.S. Manual backtesting requires video recording of those trade signals as they occurred in real-time so that you can use it as feedback to see how your trade signals actually developed and then confirmed. This is something you can not get from hindsight chart analysis.
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Quick clarification about my prior message post...
I'm not stating that hindsight chart analysis is bad for education purpose. In contrast, its good but just don't let it be your only source. Thus, you need real-time charts (recorded) of your trade signals in combo with the hindsight charts because hindsight charts do not capture the streaming flow of the price action that you'll need to prepare yourself for real money trading.
Recorded live price action of your trade signals will help with the discipline aspect that you'll encounter in real trading with your money on the line.
I'm not stating that hindsight chart analysis is bad for education purpose. In contrast, its good but just don't let it be your only source. Thus, you need real-time charts (recorded) of your trade signals in combo with the hindsight charts because hindsight charts do not capture the streaming flow of the price action that you'll need to prepare yourself for real money trading.
Recorded live price action of your trade signals will help with the discipline aspect that you'll encounter in real trading with your money on the line.