jasinhbca's quest for discipline, knowledge & profits
- Thread starter jas_in_hbca
- Start date
Thanks guys.
'Patience' was one of my first ah- ha moments. Don't try to catch every move and don't feel the need to understand every move. Still working on it which of course is the discipline side.
'Patience' was one of my first ah- ha moments. Don't try to catch every move and don't feel the need to understand every move. Still working on it which of course is the discipline side.
Reminds me of what Instynct said about 9 to 5 mentality. In trading you don't get paid in a linear way.. no X$ for XHrs of work.. You may sit 4 hours and in 1 hour get paid for the day... Also difficult to go home with nothing or a loss.. You don't lose money at a 9 to 5 job..
Such a slooow build for some to get this.. I am far from it, even when I make money the sporadic nature causes stress.. A good exercise for a trader would be to monitor the markets all day BUT do nothing.. just watch. Not easy.
Such a slooow build for some to get this.. I am far from it, even when I make money the sporadic nature causes stress.. A good exercise for a trader would be to monitor the markets all day BUT do nothing.. just watch. Not easy.
and i'll add that in most areas of life when you don't succeed you just try harder. In trading trying harder usually naturally results in making more trades. The correct solution is usually the exact opposite; to make less trades.
IMO
IMO
With all i've read over the years about how trading is primarily mental i still am not 100% convinced. maybe it's 50/50 psych/skill.
All i know today is that my skills were not enough to trade the market. That didn't stop me from trying though. A little more knowledge may have led to a little more patience.
Still reviewing but i believe 1 was a flat out bad trade. The others were decent entries that just didn't work this time. Although the last short was either mismanaged by too early exit or just missing the proper entry. Hell, maybe it is all mental. I was getting a little nervous on last trade because of the days loss. If i had been up i might have stuck with my proper stop and had a profitable trade.
Well, that says a lot now doesn't it. FOCUS on the CURRENT trade and trade it PROPERLY. And why do i continue to break this rule ? Gotta be confidence in myself.
All i know today is that my skills were not enough to trade the market. That didn't stop me from trying though. A little more knowledge may have led to a little more patience.
Still reviewing but i believe 1 was a flat out bad trade. The others were decent entries that just didn't work this time. Although the last short was either mismanaged by too early exit or just missing the proper entry. Hell, maybe it is all mental. I was getting a little nervous on last trade because of the days loss. If i had been up i might have stuck with my proper stop and had a profitable trade.
Well, that says a lot now doesn't it. FOCUS on the CURRENT trade and trade it PROPERLY. And why do i continue to break this rule ? Gotta be confidence in myself.
Thanks RN,
Over the years the books have always said something like, "once you find a strategy that has an edge the hard part is the discipline to trade it. This book will teach you the discipline...." My reaction was always , wait i bought this book to get that edge ! I can handle the discipline.
Discipline to me was always mostly ability to take a loss. I'm good at that but have come to realize it's much more. Managing stress, overcoming hesitation, missing trades, over trading , staying positive etc.
The idea trading is 90+ % mental still fascinates me. The good news is i enjoy the mental aspects as much as the actual trading. Peak
performance, positive attitude, visualization exercises are all interesting to me.
Knowing that it's primarily mental certainly makes one think about it from a whole different perspective as well. Thanks.
just finished re-reading The Outer Game of Trading by abell & koppel. i'd recommend to all struggling traders. Now reading Day Trader's Advantage by Abell. Both are heavy on the psych side. I'd read these years ago. Seeing things different this go- around.
I don't think it was psych issues today. Just couldn't catch anything. I kept trading because i didn't feel i was taking bad trades.
O.K. so the question i ask myself is - what IF it was a psych issue ? What mistakes or opportunities did i miss due to my state of mind ?
Hard to say after the fact but possibly holding a short bias too long. Afraid to take a 2B buy (failed b/o). Also exited a trade too soon. Are these psych issues or just lack of experience ? I'll assume both and keep working on solving both. Holding trades longer - i need to just keep reminding myself this is a problem area to work on. Slowly making progress on this. Missing trades is experience and ability to accept the uncertain.
Still going 1 step forward , 1 back.
10 trades -12.75 pts. sounds bad but i think it was just one of those days.
O.K. so the question i ask myself is - what IF it was a psych issue ? What mistakes or opportunities did i miss due to my state of mind ?
Hard to say after the fact but possibly holding a short bias too long. Afraid to take a 2B buy (failed b/o). Also exited a trade too soon. Are these psych issues or just lack of experience ? I'll assume both and keep working on solving both. Holding trades longer - i need to just keep reminding myself this is a problem area to work on. Slowly making progress on this. Missing trades is experience and ability to accept the uncertain.
Still going 1 step forward , 1 back.
10 trades -12.75 pts. sounds bad but i think it was just one of those days.