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You are Accountable

Traders like to think that they only need to be accountable to themselves in order to get the best out of their trading. But it has been my experience that most traders fail miserably at this task.  So why are traders not able to do this?

They do not want to:

  • Be wrong
  • Admit that they are changing their rules
  • Face up to the fact that they do not have good rules
  • Realize that they need psychological help
  • Realize that they do not have what it takes

If you are committed to doing whatever it takes to follow your rules to reach a higher level of profit, you should consider asking someone to help you with this task if you are not doing a good job of it yourself.

Who could take on the role of a trader’s accountability?

  • A significant other
  • A friend
  • A trading buddy
  • A teacher
  • A coach

What would a person need to help you be more accountable?

  • A clearly defined set of rules from you
  • Your commitment to telling the truth to them
  • An accounting of the trades you took
  • Why you think the trades you took were good opportunities
  • The risk/reward ratios before the trade
  • The money management procedure you followed
  • Whether or not you followed your rules
  • The lessons you learned
  • And at the four month periodical review, the changes you would make and why

Reward or punishment

There should be a clearly defined predetermined punishment or reward that both of you agree upon for not following your rules.  Here are some examples of punishments or rewards to consider.

Punishment

  • No trading the rest of the day
  • Walk around the block before taking the next trade
  • Twenty push ups
  • Limit the size of your trades for the rest of the week

Rewards (more…)

Creating A Culture Of Distraction

Distraction is eating away at society. Now that almost everyone has a handheld computer at their disposal 24/7 distraction is life. This is an older video from Microsoft, but worth checking out again. It is a perfect example of how much of our lives are being missed by chatting with someone in cyber space rather than living in the moment:

Too much stimulation is like a massage that never ends–no good. Think about it from an investing perspective too.

A TRADER’S PRAYER


Stock and options trading is difficult to master, much like life at times. We all go through times of hardship.  I believe our country (and world) is going through one right now.  But difficult times have come and gone in the past and I have faith that this is just another one of those times.  Here is my prayer for the trader…in and out of the charts.
May the sun always shine bright with energy when rising and glimmer with comfort in descent
May your charts whisper to your burning ears

May your flowers be full of bees and your weeds choke on fallen nectar
May your wins humble and your losses teach
May still waters massage your aches and clean water quench your thirst
May fear give way to peace and greed surrender to charity
May the eyes of a child sooth the wrinkles of age
May a logical life give new meaning to an illogical chart
May you outlive your mother and father and die honored before your children
May the life within bring beauty to the life without

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