Quote from KDASFTG:
Matcha,
âMuch Learning Does Not Teach Understandingâ.
I think your wheels are still on the rails, so to speak, but I believe you are about to take a non-useful sidetrack from your objective of disciplined trading. But before you move any further down this path, at this time I feel it is my obligation to redirect you. Your choice is to accept or reject, and I'm at peace with either decision.
Matcha please excuse me but like Redneck, I'm going to be frank and candid, and you need to fully comprehend and understand what Iâm about to say: You have only just begun to learn about trading and the traderâs mindset. These concepts are still very much new to you. You are still very much a âbabe in the woodsâ with learning these skills and techniques. And further, right now it doesnât even occur to you that some of us out here in the ether of cyberspace have been working for decades to earn the skills we ever so politely share with you. But as the saying goes; âWhat you gain too easily, you esteem too lightlyâ.
And, I can see by reading your comments over the last few days that, your âexpectationsâ about where you think you are, and the reality of where you really are, are pretty much out of line. As MD says in his book, âthere is nothing more painful than an unmet expectationâ. You unwittingly bear witness to this regularly now. This is because, I do think that you believe that, since youâve diligently âpaid your duesâ by picking up some new dynamic techniques, or reading MD once or twice, that you now, fully understand the technique, or see exactly what MD is talking about with this âthinking in probabilitiesâ concept. This is understandable, you have been working hard. Well sorry, but Iâm here to tell you that you still have not as yet learned the lessons.
* Seeing the lesson is good, but it doesnât mean that you know it.
* Knowing the lesson is better, but it doesnât mean that you understand it.
* Understanding the lesson is infinitely better than knowing, but it doesnât mean you own it.
* Matcha, its only when you OWN IT, that you can BELIEVE IT,...... at a level where you can CONSISTENTLY ACT ON IT.
You see, much learning does not teach understanding, but you must learn that understanding is only just the beginning of real learning.
As I read your words, I watch as you set yourself up for your daily emotional rollercoaster ride. And, I canât help but wonder, what kind of inappropriate beliefs are you now inculcating with this last ride. What kinds of mental damage are you now imposing on your belief system and trading psyche?
I can see that right now, you are no longer in control of your âstate of mindâ while trading. The market has more or less control over you, and over your state of mind while you are trading. This is because the results of your last few trade(s) unwittingly dictate and determine your current state of mind. I can see it in your writing.
If you have a winning day, youâre on cloud nine. Even to the point of offering your help to the poor unfortunates who donât as yet have your level of achievement. But, by the same token, if you have a losing day, then its âwhat have I done wrong nowâ, "back to the drawing board", "oh when will this frustration ever end". Somebody out there in cyberspace,â¦.help.
Please excuse my candor in the last few paragraphs, but I had to say these things. Now, on to resolving some problems. First, lets define one particularly recurring problem: This problem is that you are so overly concerned with the RESULTS of your trading, that you totally ignore the âPROCESSâ of your trading. At this stage of your development, your primary objective is LEARNING the appropriate SKILL SETS necessary to succeed.
At this point in your development, who gives a tinkers damn about whether or not you made a nickel or dime today in Sim or Live, but thank God you had the good sense to be in Sim. However, the real issue for you is; what skill sets or techniques did you exercise, practice, or hone today, and how well did that process go? You must move your current focus from the "win/lose" results of your trading, to the process of your trading. Profits are the âby-productâ of the âprocessâ.
When your focus is the process, it changes things for the better. You will see more in your charts, you will understand more from your charts, you will be at one with your charts. With nothing to fear from your charts anymore, because fear is not your focus, they will begin to speak to you with clarity and purpose.
In the society we have built, we all have an ingrained fear of being wrong. Our society is built to punish those who get it wrong. However, in the trading world, we understand that being wrong and losses are an essential part of the "success process". Our world is different from the outside world. We need to think different from the outside world, and sometimes our ideas are diametrically opposed in our market environment. This is now your world. You learn to accept being wrong, as being ok, and to manage trading losses, as you would business inventory.
More importantly, you must mentally move your Center of Focus. When your Center of Focus in trading is to learn, practice, or hone a skill, who among us is afraid to learn, practice, or hone a skill? This is the âmindsetâ you enter into as your trading day begins. Your thoughts as you begin the day are that; âToday I will get the opportunity to exercise my skills againâ. With that kind of attitude going into your day, you start off with a very real sense of "Power and Control".
This is because you do in fact have the Power and Control. When your focus is the process, surprisingly, you will experience very few âemotionally down daysâ from your trading. This is because you are not riding an emotional rollercoaster anymore with "win/lose" up and down results. You will gain a lasting sense of control over your trading that will stay with you for many profitable years to come.
In time, you will also come to realize, that this really is a, pattern recognition numbers game,â¦..THAT YOU NOW OWN!
Now Matchhopper,â¦â¦go get to work on that!
Master K
âcrass dismissedâ
