* Distractions come from unfinished business;
* I’ve yet to meet an impressive person who has needed to impress people;
* Passion without commitment is wasted energy;
* The early bird gets the worm; the night hawk gets the early bird;
* Success comes when doing things right is combined with doing the right things;
* When you are doing what you’re meant to be doing, effort gives energy;
* In trading, as in life, you succeed by acting decisively on your convictions;
* You will never win if your goal is to not lose; * Successful people are productive; they traffic in efforts, not intentions;
* Narcissism craves admiration; self-esteem desires understanding. .
Archives of “desires” tag
rssAn Ironic Trick for Trading Better
Everyone knows what they /SHOULD/ do… and everyone has trouble doing it. Why? Lots of reasons –
Market ambiguity compels you to make impulsive judgments … . Not enough sleep… . I can go on and on and on… and talk to you about your emotional architectures and using emotion analytics to better manage your risk as well as better deduce opportunity.
But here is a little “emotion analytics” trick –
Ask yourself – as you are contemplating entering or exiting a position “How will I feel if…. ?” … and then play out the scenarios, #1) the trade continues in my direction, #2) it pulls back and takes away some of my money, #3) it ….
By putting yourself into your potential future emotional contexts, you can make better “risk” judgments in the here and now.
(And oh yes, I know to some of you this sounds absurd…that is OK. Everyone that I have taught to do it, makes more money than when they just tried to use so-called discipline to intellectually overpower their desires to get in or out or… in and out … or ….)
Ten Secrets
- THE FIRST SECRET
The Power of Thought.Love begins with our thoughts. We become what we think about. Loving thoughts create loving experiences and loving relationships. Affirmations can change our beliefs and thoughts about ourselves and others. If we want to love someone, we need to consider their needs and desires. Thinking about your ideal partner will help you recognize him or her when you meet him or her. - THE SECOND SECRET
The Power of Respect.You cannot love anyone or anything unless you first respect them. The first person you need to respect is yourself. To begin to gain self-respect ask yourself: “What do I respect about myself?” To gain respect for others, even those you may dislike, ask yourself: “What do I respect about them?” - THE THIRD SECRET
The Power of Giving.If you want to receive love, all you have to do is give it! The more love you give, the more you will receive. To love is to give of yourself, freely and unconditionally. Practice random acts of kindness. Before committing to a relationship ask not what the other person will be able to give to you, but rather what will you be able to give them. The secret formula of a happy, lifelong, loving relationship is to always focus on what you can give instead of what you can take. - THE FOURTH SECRET
The Power of Friendship.To find a true love, you must first find a true friend. Love does not consist of gazing into each other’s eyes, but rather looking outward together in the same direction. To love someone completely you must love them for who they are, not what they look like. Friendship is the soil through which love’s seeds grow. If you want to bring love into a relationship, you must first bring friendship. (more…)
Expectations vs Reality
expecˈtation – noun
1. belief about (or mental picture of) the future
2. anticipating with confidence of fulfillment
3. the feeling that something is about to happen
I think all of us initially come to this subject with expectations (or as stated above, confidence in the fulfillment of our mental pictures of the future). Obviously having goals is one thing, but expectations are another – the problem is the time lines we set and the source of our expectations.
For instance, what if you expect to make money trading in two years, but in actuality (and unknown to you) it will take five? Surely after two years a thought will enter your head such as “this is not working out how I hoped…”
No wonder – your hopes had no connection to reality.
Even more bizarre, considering the above, is that I imagine almost everyone that gets involved in this subject expects to make money immediately. If you expect to make money immediately, but in reality it takes five years to learn to trade with consistency, then of course blown accounts and negative emotions are virtually guaranteed.
Non of us that wash out are smart – we are dumb. If we were smart, we would demo trade (or make use of facilities such as micro accounts) UNTIL we could actually trade profitably, no matter how many years it took.
Are you able to demo trade for five years? I can hear you now – “no freekin’ way!!!”
Why not? Of course, because you have PLANS don’t you? You have OTHER THINGS that you need to press on with that are dependent on your success in trading; in fact these plans of yours are already LATE due to the unexpected delays you hit with this little ‘ole thing called the Stock Market.
What was it? Quit your job, pay off a debt, new car, beach house by the sea, exotic holiday, help your parents in their old age, total financial freedom from the wage slave arena?
These two things combined, unrealistic expectations + unrelated desires are pure poison to any chance of success you have. I can see that now – I have actually looked within and SEEN the cobwebs of unrelated desires and unrealistic expectations that in fact have nothing to do with the reality of trading. Thats the truly amazing thing; these issues are actually NOT CONNECTED to the subject, they are things that are hanging around it in your head like moths around a flame.
So what to do? Somehow, this subject and this practice of trading needs to be mentally separated out into its own space and be unconnected to anything else, otherwise we are dragging all of this dead weight behind us. The term “mental purity” was a phrase coined by the West Coast trading desk by the Enron traders used to describe the state whereby they have nothing unconscious infecting their trading decisions (such as morals and a conscience in their case! See the book Smartest Guys in the Room – a brilliant read).
Its a good term – somehow we need to achieve mental purity (be free from murky motives and unconscious unrealistic expectations).
Book Review-Trading Beyond the Matrix-Great Book for Traders
Now ,This Book in our Library
1. Trading with the use of R Multiples. Risk a set amount per trade with the goal to make a minimum of three Rs for every one risked. If the trade is does not work out cut the loss at 1R.
2. Only trade if you have an edge, which is defined by only taking the very best trading opportunities, position sizing correctly, being in control of your feelings, and having a great risk to reward ratio, etc.
3. To be a successful trader you must know what your trading objectives are, how much do you want to make in a year? What percent of return are you looking for?
4. You need defined goals of whether you want to trade for a living, make a million dollars, or just trade for capital appreciation.
5. A primary goal of this book is to make the leap from trading our opinions about the markets to trading what is actually happening in the markets.
The power of this book is in the psychology and spiritual insights shared by both the author and many successful traders that share their journey with the reader with the chapters they wrote for this book. (more…)
For many traders, promising to follow rules doesn’t work for long
How many times have you broken the rules?
For many traders, promising to follow rules doesn’t work for long. One reason is willpower fatigue, a well-documented phenomenon. I regularly receive emails from traders who are very bright and hard working – often with a degree from a top school or a successful prior career– and they are so frustrated with themselves about ‘breaking rules’ in trading.
For most traders, the work required to succeed is not what was expected. Trading discipline is not about willpower to follow rules. It seems like that on the surface, and it sort of is in the beginning of one’s trading career, but there are three reasons why simple willpower is not the answer for long-term success:
First, discretionary trading means by its very definition that we must use our judgment to make a decision – not simply use willpower to follow a rule. (more…)
Trading Rules – For A Survival Of The Trader
1. Plan your trade. Trade under the plan.
2. Write down your results.
3. Keep positive mood irrespective of your losses.
4. Do not bring the market from work to home.
5. Constantly raise level of your purposes.
6. Buy during bad news and sell during good.
7. Do not be afraid to buy at high position and to sell at low.
8. Always have well planned time for market studying.
9. Isolate yourself from opinions of others.
10. Always be quiet, persevering and consecutive; operate rationally.
11. Never enter into the market because you are bored to be out of the market. To be out of a position is also a position.
12. It is not necessary to enter and leave from the market too frequent.
13. Traders usually study not at profits, but at losses. Study every loss for improvement of the knowledge about the market.
14. Successful trading is combined and often accompanied by negative emotions. The most important element of successful trade is you are.
15. Always discipline yourself to follow certain rules in advance.
16. Do not allow big profits to turn in big losses
17. You should have the plan, you should know the plan – and you should follow it.
18. Perceive losses with advantage.
19. Halve your profit and never risk more than 50 % of profit operating against the market.
20. A key to successful trade – self-studying.
21. There is no so much distinction between getting in the market and losing there in natural abilities, that in ability to study the errors correctly. (more…)
6 Effective Ways to Trading Success
1. Identify if you really want to be a trader. Is this truly your desire?
Before you can develop persistence and eventually achieve success in the tough trading game, you need to first identify if this is truly what you want to do. If you are only doing this for the money then the odds of you making it through the learning process is very slim. You have to be ‘foolish’ enough through your initial losses to believe that you can rise to the top 10% of profitable traders. Most traders learning curves are measured in years not weeks so trading is more like getting a degree than reading a book over the weekend.
2. Determine your motivation. Why do you want to be a trader?
Motivation comes from a deep reason why we want to achieve or have something. If you know why you’re doing what you’re doing, it gives you more energy to keep moving forward in learning and getting experience. If you are trading to make a quick buck, then you do not make that buck quickly you will join the quitters. If you are trading to have enough money to pay off your house in 5 years that will create the energy to drive you forward against the odds.
You can get through this first learning stage by writing down specifically all the things you want to have or accomplish through your trading. List all your desires and wants, all the rewards that will come through you not quitting the trading game. This is what will get you through if your heart is in it. You need a very big bucket of carrots waiting for you on the other side of trading success to get through the whips the market will hit you with while you are learning.
3. Outline Your Definite Action Step
Identifying your wants or desires speaks of what you want to achieve. Determining your motivation shows the reasons why you want to achieve what you want. Outlining your definite action step is necessary to know howyou will be able to achieve what you want.
When you know how to get what you want, it makes it easier to achieve it. To know how, it pays to do some research and planning of what needs to be done on your part. Be specific on each step you need to take. Identify at least two ways and plans on how you can achieve your goals.
4. Keep the right mindset, believe that you are going to be a winning trader. (more…)