Mastering the Four Fears

Quote from Steve Tvardek:

What kind of $$$ do you net out of the market annually?

I think there are definiely things holding some back that have to do with guilt because once you make enough to live comfortably, its hard to "justify" making more.

Of course I know it sounds crazy but the human subconscious is powerful and if it thinks you have enough, its hard to convince it otherwise.

got similar problems, not addin' pile after pile on a winnin' pos that i know is gonna yield good profits but am not zure about u arguments...maybe it is all about fear of the untested and that what's stoppin' us: me thinks we prefer to stay in our comfy way of doin' things...one thing is zertain tho, am workin' hard on it and should be able to get over it [sooner or later].
 
My point is that its very easy for someone not in a situation like this to say that its ridiculous to feel "guilt" about making $$$ too fast as compared to others around you. I use to feel this way too, but thats before I saw my trading profits multiply at a pace much faster than I thought they could. For instance, I went from making $4000 for all of 2004, to 120K for 2005 to an estimated (based on current pace) 300K for 2006. Think about your avg job and there is no way to accelerate at this pace. I'm not necessaily saying I'm struggling w/ this problem but I can see how this can affect ones trading. I'm very sure I do limit myself currently but not to the point where I cant live comfortably. But, to get even better and better, one has to move past this and not concern themselves w/ how fast they are able to accumulate profits. Thats all I'm saying.

Quote from crystalballs:

I don't know Steve, how do you personally measure success?
 
Steve, what do you want me to say? Good for you. As for the guilty bit,...i personally think that you are a wanker. Never the less, good trading, and i wish you all the best.
 
Hey, if you havent been there, then you wouldnt know.

I really wish people wouldnt comment on things they have not themselves experienced.

Quote from crystalballs:

Steve, what do you want me to say? Good for you. As for the guilty bit,...i personally think that you are a wanker. Never the less, good trading, and i wish you all the best.
 
Back to the original topic.

Very good post and I would like to add my observation on FEAR. The fear of giving back profits or adding to a loss on a paticular stock. Once a position has been closed that's it for that stock, any new positions will be with another stock.
 
Quote from Steve Tvardek:

Maybe not a "fear" to win but more perhaps the guilt of winning too much too fast?

I see a little of that in my own trading. There are times when I could add a little more to a position w/o much risk but dont feeling I have enough and the trade will be a good one regardless if I add or not. Of course this is stupid thinking because I know I should add more cause the trade is allowing me to take a little more advantage. The good thing is that I am aware of this dumb thinking and can makes strides to correct it :)

Not necessarily dumb. Maybe you acknowledge that you don't have a well-thought-out strategy in place for scaling in and recognize that making one up when the situation arises is not the smartest thing to do. This isn't fear. This is being a grown-up.
 
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