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Trading is a mind game - by Forex Mind Games 2 replies

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When my mind is on tilt...

Quoting Pierce
@ insomniawawa I'm really thankful for your advice. It seems like you exactly know my problem. Your idea with the push ups sounds great, I'll try your five recommendations. So I can leave my patterns behind. If you want to add smehting feel free. However I really appreciate your support so far.

I'm glad that I can help. I added 3 points to first post Remember that if you want to do push-ups as a break after losing trade, use appropriate quantity It must be little tiring, but not so much that you will leave this method due to muscle sores
Quoting Pierce
Hello guys, I'm trading Forex some time and finally found a strategy with works for me. But the big problem is my mind. So just today I started trading - first trade = lost, 2nd also. I recognized that I'm not feeling well today but nevertheless I tried. And so the whole shit started; I was angry about myself "why did you even trade" and so on. I opened position with increased volume, the insane thing is: At this moment I even knew I was doing the wrong thing but I couldn't do a thing about it. I'ts like I'm forced to do so. And finally I blew my...
Your problem is that the purpose of your trading is the wrong one.

You trade for fun, for excitement, for challenge, for whatever you want to call it.
The market give you what you want, and it's damn expensive too!

Trade for make profit is different, more calm, more focused, surely damn boring, and slower.

Unfortunately you cannot consciously decide the purpose of your trading, such chioce is taken at a very deep level of your consciousness, a level which most of us are unaware of.

We are in autopilot mode (also now, even if we think we do make chioces etc) for most of our life, and the autopilot work within a very real and clear fixed framework, like dogs on a leash, you can decide to trade good and be disciplined all you want, but if your autopilot framework (subconscious) is for the "hi oh let's make a trade, I'm bored" sooner or later he is going to get what it want (and pay the price for it).

What I'm trying to say is that every day, the moment you open your platform, before even look at charts, it is all already decided. It is already decided if you are finally starting to grow your account to the stars or if you are going to burn it.

And, you are the one who made such decision, probably a long time ago, for whatever reason.

I don't know if it make sense, but, these was my 2 cents.
Quoting insomniawawa
{quote} I'm glad that I can help. I added 3 points to first post Remember that if you want to do push-ups as a break after losing trade, use appropriate quantity It must be little tiring, but not so much that you will leave this method due to muscle sores
Yes. I'll start with 50 and will observe which amount is good. I think it's better to have some muscle sores than those stupid trades over and over .
Quoting tunera
{quote} Your problem is that the purpose of your trading is the wrong one. You trade for fun, for excitement, for challenge, for whatever you want to call it. The market give you what you want, and it's damn expensive too! Trade for make profit is different, more calm, more focused, surely damn boring, and slower. Unfortunately you cannot consciously decide the purpose of your trading, such chioce is taken at a very deep level of your consciousness, a level which most of us are unaware of. We are in autopilot mode (also now, even if we think we...
Hello tunera,thank you for this great post!when a trader arive this moment and understand these words - how crazy&stupid say may sounds - i think he has a very good chance to change!
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Quoting Pierce
Hello guys, I'm trading Forex some time and finally found a strategy with works for me. But the big problem is my mind. So just today I started trading - first trade = lost, 2nd also. I recognized that I'm not feeling well today but nevertheless I tried. And so the whole shit started; I was angry about myself "why did you even trade" and so on. [...]
Does your chosen strategy have well defined rules? - If no, write them down.

Did you follow all the rules of your strategy? If no, punish yourself.



You have to change your mindset: You don't trade to win, you trade to follow your rules. And if you do that you get more winning trades than losing trades as an add-on. Every strategy has losing trades, so it doesn't bother you if you get some.

However, not following your rules is bad. You have to punish yourself every time you make a trade outside your rules. And chose a punishment that really hurts you. I don't know you, so here are a few examples that might work for different people:

-Don't use your car for a week
-Donate 5k to the salvation army
-Stop trading for 20 days
-Clean the house of your mother in law
-Eat 5 snails raw
-No Facebook/TV/Mobile for a week
-Wear a David Hasselhoff Fan-shirt for a week
-...


Conclusion: Analyse your trades everyday:

-Winner, rules followed: Great
-Loser, rules followed: Great
-Winner, rules not followed (these are the worst for your mindset): Punishment (and additionally donate the profit immediately)
-Loser, rules not followed: Punishment

Good luck
..
Quoting Slicktick
{quote} Did you follow all the rules of your strategy? If
No I didn't. That's what I meant.


Thanks for your support: I really appreciate it.
The problem is not you. I do not know how you trade, but your exit signal sucks. Figure out how to exit properly and don't worry about your mind.

A proper exit signal will stop you from entering the wrong direction. My guess is you are trying to find reverse spots in trends, or you are trading at low volatility and getting stuck in consolidation. OR I suppose you could be entering wayyyyy too late because you require a zillion confirmations before pulling the trigger.

Basically, it is not you. Your trading system needs improvement. You are being head faked by your technique. Without knowing your technique, I can't really offer any advice on how to improve it.
You cannot be extraordinary by being normal
Quoting Slicktick
{quote}You have to change your mindset: You don't trade to win, you trade to follow your rules.
EXACTLY!! Well said. If your rules suck, then it is your trading plan that sucks, not you. Hopefully you realize by now that historical charts and live charts are two entirely different trading signals.
You cannot be extraordinary by being normal
The logic of your brain does not follow the logic of your actions- instead of trying to fight it learn to circumvent it through building alternative habits.

Two of the ones that helped me the most is having to write extremely detailed psychological journals plus unplugging my computer and walking away, both designed to make it impossible to trade. Work on building better habits instead of just" I must stop trading" because it's been a long ass time and you clearly don't listen to yourself
Yes, I thing your're right.

I really need to let go then. Anything else won't help then. Otherwise I'd enter trades which an attitude like, hm usually I wouldn't enter it cause it's risky. But in those moments I just don't care. And so every strategy gets useless cause I simply won't follow the rules.
Pierce, you seems to get really impulsive when trading, and this impulsivity don't care about rules or plans.

Am i right?

Now, this is a very very good thing in trading, impulsivity is energy, energy is power, it's the very thing you need to make great things in life.

You should be very happy about that, the problem of course is that all this power don't have a control, you cannot control it, your authority is not recognized, it's like a huge army without a general/captain.

I got a clear picture of the whole thing, and it's a very common problem in the life of billions of people, not only related to trading.

For example, is the same for a cigarette smoker who want to quit, but his will-power is nothing compared to the power of "the autopilot", and without a clear authority over his subconscious mind, he is never going to win and stop smoking.

You must understand that the conscious mind ("you") with his 40bits-per-second information processing power is quite a out-dated shit compared to the 40millionsbits-per-second information processing power of the subconscious ("autopilot") mind.

To get back to the army analogy, is like a 1million soldiers army, you can fight and win any war with such an army of disciplined ready-to-fight soldiers, but you have the responsibility of give them orders, tell them what to do, let them respect you, be the leader.

The majority of people are unaware to have such an army at their disposal, so the army lies without a leader, without any control, an invisible unchecked force that drive their lives, with such a power 1million times more powerful than them and without any control, how difficult can a life become.

You HAVE to take CONTROL of your own (subconscious) mind, you have to be the general/captain/leader, this is the secret.

When you will have total control, then you can do whatever you want, with all that power you can achieve anything you want in your life, when all your power is directed in one direction, the whole universe become a servant.

Thank you
Maybe you don't follow the rules because nothing is at stake. You started with a very very very tiny $100. So it means nothing to lose it. You are in actuality probably trying to turn that $100 in to $1000 very quickly, which means taking big risks and falling prey to base emotions more easily. We have all been there. If it were $100,000 in your account, you would trade entirely differently. I'm not saying you would revert to being a winner, but you would surely bleed the account much more slowly while you were learning discipline. That of course, is only tif you had EARNED that 100K. If it were given to you, then it would likely disappear in short order, like so many lottery "winners". Its going to sound like a tired old platitude but the fact is that you need to cut your losers as short as possible and let your winners run because while a change in trend can be anticipated, it can either stop abruptly or continue far beyond what you thought was probable. Anyway, if you do fund your account again with a small amount, you MUST reduce the trade size to a pain-free lot size until you get your sea-legs. For instance, if you are trading with $100, I wouldn't trade any lot size over 1000 units or .01 normal lots. That might even be too much, but at least when you hit a great trade, you get a tangible result. And as long as you aren't risking a ridiculous number of pips, you can stay in the game long enough to turn that frown upside down.

Good luck. Recognizing the problem is the first necessary step. That "discipline" video above should be mandatory viewing for everyone.
There's always money in the banana stand.
@ tunera @ LizardGizzard

Thanks for your detailed replies.

I'll guess you're both right.

I really have to fully understand how to handle this problem and mayby then what's causing it.
But I have to go step by step.

Friendly greets.
Quoting Pierce
Hello guys, I'm trading Forex some time and finally found a strategy with works for me. But the big problem is my mind. So just today I started trading - first trade = lost, 2nd also. I recognized that I'm not feeling well today but nevertheless I tried. And so the whole shit started; I was angry about myself "why did you even trade" and so on. I opened position with increased volume, the insane thing is: At this moment I even knew I was doing the wrong thing but I couldn't do a thing about it. I'ts like I'm forced to do so. And finally I blew my...
Once you define your edge then you will only take trades based upon it.Even if you lose you'll be fine because edge is profitable based upon series of trades not just few.
Looks like your are more or less gambling but even in gambling you must define your edge.
look at my chart and see the edge and you'll understand what I mean
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In trading, you have to be defensive and aggressive at the same time
hi,

we can't answer that for you, because you are doing it to yourself, and you have your reasons, and your mind is very good at hiding them from you.

you have to dig deep and find the root cause. maybe start with your motivation to trade, and what you are getting out of it as it is right now. maybe you are getting exactly what you unconsciously want or you fulfill a believe about yourself, maybe a believe about what others think about you.

do you have to prove something? to others, to yourself? do you feel released when its over and tense while trading? there the brain basically rewards you for failing.

anyway, you have to find the root cause, there is no way around it, no trick will fix this.

br, silver
Invincibility lies in the defence, the possibility of victory in the attack
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  • Last Post: Jul 12, 2015 4:48pm Jul 12, 2015 4:48pm
Give a shot to stress relief kit. Am very satisfied with this product and can recommend. Costs printing a paper and a bit of glue. Strength of stress relief adjustable upon surface.
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"I know one thing, that I know nothing." Sokrates
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