I can't believe it has been a year since my last post. This will be my last post here and I hope it can be resourceful to lots of new traders that out there.
I have been working on a full time job for one year and the job has been very demanding and stressful. But I have never given up on trading and studying. I went on live trading last Aug with 3 set ups. Mostly I traded the openings. The first 2 hours. And I trade avg 3 days/week due to work schedule (my job requires 30% traveling).
My first 2 month had been OK, I stayed calm. Then I went through the "boom bust" equity curve with some dramatic trending down each month. It's to the point that I almost thought this will never work for me...
My largest drawdown happened this Jan. Feb and early April. The total loss since inception to a lot of people might be tiny, but to me, I see what I have been doing as disastrous and lead to a damage.
I then started to re-work on all the past trades and analyzed. "Understanding doesnât mean you fully accept and act on it". Somehow, this sound of voice jumped on my head. I suddenly realize that the whole time, I have never truly excised "the trader's mindset". (I appreciate all the great advice from all the experts on ET, KDSFSG, WF, Nodoji, Boli, but I felt so guilty that I have never been truly "listened")
I went back to MD 's book. I bought the audio book and play it in my car over and over, I jogged down the key notes in my notebook at my leisure time. (Every words are so important,, I filled out the whole book.lol) I then followed the exercise at the back page, I am sure lots of you have read that. SO, I decide I will test out first the 50 trades(in book he suggested 20 sample size) and willing to lose them all. I will trade with a trader's mindset and not to think about any losses or win. I will fully accept the loss and not to move my stop prematurely. I will systematically pay myself at 2 pts or 1 pts when market rewards me. I will excise my mind and think "anything could happen". I will think that âIt is meaningless to beat myself because I missed a great trade, because there is nothing to be missed, there is always "the trade:". The trade either work or it doesn't. Money is just a by-product... My trade is the reflection of my own stage of development......
At the first 20 trades, I still felt it's so hard to achieve and exercise the mindset. but it's just gets easier day by day....
Right now I just finished my 120 trades. I still went though a big drawdown, but it gets smaller and the frequency gets smaller. After analzing my trade and my emotion towards every trade. I couldnât believe that I actually get the best positive expectancy I have ever had since I went out live. I began to see market in a much more "objective way". More importantly, I actually felt a lot more relaxed everyday.-this positive energy will keep on going every day and continuing studying, testing and researching.
So if you have ever wondered your method or you are a struggling new trader like me, first mission is to "GET YOUR MINDS RIGHT"!
There is still a lot I need to learn and explore, and I can't guarantee that I am already at the point that I can execute trade without any emotion 100%. But I know what I need to work on and I believe I am finally heading to the right direction--slowly
Good luck, all! and Happy trading! And a great thank you to everyone who has helped me greatly in this journal! I wonât disappoint you!
