Trading psychology resources

...Savoir says that many think they are unprofitable because of the psychology, when in reality they lack a profitable trading system/strategy/process, which is hard to make, takes a long time to learn and is hard to develop.

The core to profitable trading is a well-developed process/strategy that you fully trust in. Then once you have that, the psychological part is to focus on the process and execute. You have to be mindful, in the present moment, fully focused on executing the process. If you are focused on the now, you can't be thinking of past mistakes and regrets, not thinking about the future profits, but fully immersed into what you can do now and take control of the things that you can control(execution of the strategy).

By focusing on the process is how you take yourself, your ego, emotions,.... out of the equation.

BUT you do need a profitable strategy that you fully trust. If you don't have one, it might seem like you are in a loop where bad things continue to happen to you and then it would be only normal to get emotional, angry, frustrated, miserable,...

That's true in many situations but on the flip side...

I've seen many traders backtest their trade strategy that show positive expectancy and then simulate their trade strategy that show consistent profits.

Yet, as soon as real money is on the line...the traders eventually mentally fall apart. They're not profitable.

Unfortunately, they then believe its the strategy fault...nothing wrong with them (their psychology). They then make the mistake of tinkering, changing their trade strategy to make it even better in hopes that it will inspire their psychology to follow the trading plan.

wrbtrader
 
I totally agree, number one you need a strategy that works, and that works really well. If you can trade and be successful from there, that’s great! I don’t think most traders can, even with the best strategy in the world. That’s when they come and see me! :-)
 
That's true in many situations but on the flip side...

I've seen many traders backtest their trade strategy that show positive expectancy and then simulate their trade strategy that show consistent profits.

Yet, as soon as real money is on the line...the traders eventually mentally fall apart. They're not profitable.

Unfortunately, they then believe its the strategy fault...nothing wrong with them (their psychology). They then make the mistake of tinkering, changing their trade strategy to make it even better in hopes that it will inspire their psychology to follow the trading plan.

wrbtrader
Very nicely put to words. I agree with you.
 
Trading is 100% mental and is unlike any other game, including gambling games, that we are familiar with. The markets are counterintuitive in many ways. They have to be in order to make losers out of most participants.

People get into trading with preconceived notions that do not apply. In addition to serious financial losses, this can lead to frustration, anger, and mental illness. A site like Elite Trader is a place to observe these types of people and those that try to exploit them for their own gain (not always or solely financial).
 
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Savoir, your opinion is rare on this board. I agree fully! I have witnessed it with the traders I have interacted with, and with myself too. (I would say 90% as one needs the technical skills, etc.) Thanks for sharing your take on it.
 
Arlene has some interesting things to say about the brain
https://www.youtube.com/user/braingurutaylor/videos
https://arlenetaylor.org/

If you don't have the right mindset && the ability to manage you "inner" self ...then trading will give you a very hard time.

The mindset is probably the biggest advantage you can have coming without experience into trading. Probably seems natural to those who have it and one would have never even thought a childhood trauma could effect someone in trading.

If your mindset is not good, it will show very quickly in trading, albeit one might not be aware of it. Mindset is the foundation for successful trading. Mindset is the prerequisite, not intelligence.
While those with high IQ, usually possess a higher EQ, one does not mean the other. Intelligence is inherited, while EQ is developed. It might be so simple, but you don't know what you don't know. One would have never thought a such thing exist. Take it from me.

There's one very good trader on twitter, who has proven track record and wins every competition he enters and one day he lost 40% of his whole net worth, not due to his mistake, but an unforeseen event. And he was like "it is what it is, there's nothing you can do, but rely on your skill to build it back up"... Meanwhile at the same time, not long ago, i would have cried myself to death if that happened to me. It would eat me from inside out. That's how i would feel, i would not be able to forget quickly, i'd hang on to the feeling and even with god-like trading skills, i would not be able to perform, i'd be guaranteed to sabotage myself.
 
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