Archives of “belief” tag

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A million fragments

  
  Education
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My definition of learning is that it is the slow accumulation of a million fragments of experience that begin to connect to form understanding. Understanding occurs when a piece of acquired information connects directly to a relevant experience.

For instance you may read about support and resistance (the intake of information), but only when you attempt to trade based on that knowledge will you begin to generate what are firstly disjointed fragments of understanding.


When approaching any subject as a newbie we may start off knowing literally nothing, and then this accumulation begins. The fragments we collect are small; the reading an entire book on trading may yield perhaps two or three definite single connections and the rest appears to vanish into the “realm” of the subconscious.

If we persist, we make more and more connections and our understanding begins to grow exponentially as we verify and counter verify previously experienced fragments of knowledge. It is my belief based on observation that real learning occurs when the mind recognizes a link between two pieces of information (usually something new plus something remembered) and then generates a third. These “aha” moments seem to bond something in the mind that is more permanent – the information then becomes OURS. Due to this it is also possible to make new connections from the same information, thus it never hurts to read a book twice or more, as you may often see deeper and deeper meaning in it.

In time we reach a point where the mind contains enough understanding on a subject to be able to generate new information and connections within itself. The critical components in this process are of course the constant intake of information (study) married to real life experiences (practice) over a long enough period (time) to build up the result (understanding).

There you have the formula for mastery :

Study, Practice, Time = Understanding

Active learning is the key

  
  Education
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Research shows that you can learn more in few days than you can learn in a year. A focused approach to solving a problem where you put lot of efforts in short period of time leads to expansion of you ability to process and analyse information. That is survival mechanism.  
This is the principle used by armies to train people. Intense burst of 4-5 days of learnings lead to more learning than a long  drawn out plan. Once you get in to learning zone, you would learn more quickly. The more load you add to a learner more efficient he becomes in processing the information.
The most effective learning state is where you are loaded with more work than you can handle and you are continuously challenged. If you go back and look at your own intense learning phases you would see this. Goal of learning skills and procedural stuff is not knowledge acquisition but to change your perceived self efficacy belief.
Learning is complete when your self efficacy beliefs change. Self efficacy beliefs change if you experience mastery experience. When do you experience mastery experience ? When you stretch yourself.
The other pre requisite to experiencing a mastery experience is you have to be actively doing a task. That is why passive video based methods and trading guides and self paced programs, though popular do not work as well as bootcamp kind stretch sessions. Bootcamp style learning methods involve active participation and active learning style.
If you really want to improve your trading results you should look seriously at learning models and select a method which will enhance your skills faster. In a bootcamp kind of environment, you just have to focus like crazy  for  3-5 and try and keep up with the intense pace of learning. The grater demand put on learning capabilities in such methods results in enhancing your own efforts. As a result of that  you will find your abilities will improve dramatically in just days. 
There is abundance of information in public domain to learn trading in the form of books, curses, ebooks, videos, and so on. But most of it puts a trainee in passive learning mode.There is no active effort the trainee has to make . So it becomes like watching porn, it does not improve your actual sex life. 

Confidence

  
  Education
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When you feel confident, presuming you do sometimes feel confident, where do you feel it? Can you feel it in your brain or is it in your thorax (i.e. middle part of your body)? Better yet, why do I ask?

Well if you think about it, part of our mission here at Trader Psyches is to teach traders of all stripes how to use the message in Gladwell’s blink to assist in the d/m (that is decision making) process. The zillion copies it has sold prove the interest in it but the practical parts about what I read – sort of the “just do it” related to using your instantaneous impressions seem frankly impossible.

And I honestly still feel that most traders are for good reason, stuck in their heads. So, I ask this simple question – when you feel confident where does it hurt?

Fear of failure

  
  Education
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Don’t worry about perfect.

The easiest way to fail the first time is trying to be perfect. In the beginning, understanding how different the experience is from how you imagined it is important.  Start with reasonable expectations and over time shift to unreasonable expectations.

Seeing others do it.

At the beginning you believe you will be successful. After your expectations for success are not met, your belief fades. Surround yourself with as many people who are successful.  Seeing is believing. You will begin to notice some of the little things that they doing.  The difference between good and great, I have found, is in those little things. (more…)

FOUR STEPS TO TRADING PROGRESS

  
  Education
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The steps below are based on the developmental maturity of any trader. Each of us are at different levels in this process. This process can be applied to our overall progress as traders or in the learning of a new strategy. It is important for us to be realistic about where we are personally to become the best trader possible.

HEAR

To HEAR you have to listen and listen intentionally. You will not HEAR properly if you are focused on other things. This situation is especially true on a webinar or during the trading day when the markets are open. It is essential to set distractions aside and HEAR what is being stated.

RECEIVE

To RECEIVE something you have to HEAR it and come into agreement with it.  To RECEIVE is to take it unto yourself and personally grab hold of what you have heard and make it your own. (more…)

10 Market Insights from Mark Douglas

  
  Education
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They say that you cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him to find it within himself. “Trading In the Zone” by Mark Douglass is one of those rare books, which has played the role of an eye opener for many seasoned traders. It is a favorite read – not because it shares some hidden algorithms or tells a riveting story, not because it reveals some secret market formula or it analyzes the irrational exuberance of the crowd; but because it deals with the only hurdle that stays between a trader and his profit – his psychology.

Here are 10 of my favorite quotes from the book:

1. The four trading fears

95% of the trading errors you are likely to make will stem from your attitudes about being wrong, losing money, missing out, and leaving money on the table – the four trading fears

2. The proverbial empathy gap

You may already have some awareness of much of what you need to know to be a consistently successful trader. But being aware of something doesn’t automatically make it a functional part of who you are. Awareness is not necessarily a belief. You can’t assume that learning about something new and agreeing with it is the same as believing it at a level where you can act on it.

3. The market doesn’t generate happy or painful information

From the markets perspective, it’s all simply information. It may seem as if the market is causing you to feel the way you do at any given moment, but that’s not the case. It’s your own mental framework that determines how you perceive the information, how you feel, and, as a result, whether or not you are in the most conducive state of mind to spontaneously enter the flow and take advantage of whatever the market is offering.

4. The flaws of fundamental analysis

Fundamental analysis creates what I call a “reality gap” between “what should be” and “what is.” The reality gap makes it extremely difficult to make anything but very long-term predictions that can be difficult to exploit, even if they are correct. (more…)

20 Trading Advice for Traders

  
  Education
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  1. You have to love trading to do the work that takes you over the hump to winning.

  2. Successful traders are not born, they are built through hard work and discipline.

  3. Trading is not complicated, discipline, perseverance, risk management, passion, and a winning method that fits your personality is all you need. If you have them you will win, if you are missing one you lose.

  4. Where you are currently as a trader is not where you have to stay, the right homework done with an open mind can move you into a different place.

  5. Trading skill is built through work ethic.

  6. You must dedicate yourself to winning at trading. Every day you improve by working at it. (more…)

‘Alexander Elder Quotes’

  
  Education
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Trading is not all about just stock picking, it is not just about a winning system. Yes, first you have to understand how to trade and put the odds in your favor of winning, but that is not enough. You must also add in risk management so when you lose ten times in a row your trading career and account does not end there. You also must have  faith in your system and method to be able to keep trading it even when you are losing, and you will have losing months, maybe even a losing year, can you keep going to be around for the big wins?

One dimensional traders just pick stocks, if they are right they win for a while, but eventually they do not stop out when they are wrong and they blow up their account. They also eventually get emotionally frustrated from wild equity swings  and they eventually quit and blame the market.

Two dimensional traders have a good system and cut their losses but have trouble with self confidence and belief in their system. They tend to blame themselves when their accounts draw down 10% to 20% and have trouble understanding that it is just part of the game. The market environment is determining wins and losses not the trader, they don’t  understand this. All they can do is take their entries and exits as they come and let the market do what it does. They have not separated themselves from their trading.

The three dimensional trader takes entries and exits based on his methodology that he believes in, he manages risk per trade carefully and never loses more than 1% t0 2% of his capital on any one trade. The 3D trader’s self worth and confidence is not tied up in any one trade, or monthly performance he understands this is a long term process with ups and downs. Wins and losses do not change his mindset. It is just a business, stocks are just inventory, the market gives and the market takes away, and he just takes what it is giving.

Reduce Your Trading Loss

  
  Education
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Trading is an evolutionary process. Nobody can wake up being a Master Trader. Unfortunately there is no book or magic trick that can turn you into the highly profitable trader. Although the belief and the hope to obtain those skills instantly is still in place.

The statistics say that only the ones with the self-dedication and discipline succeed in this business.

The most common mistakes leading to losses:

-Trading against the market;

-No trade potential;

-No serious buyers or sellers in the stock;

-Wide stop-loss;

-Fear of loss. (more…)

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