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I can't get rid of my bad trading habits...

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  • First Post: Apr 10, 2018 6:09am Apr 10, 2018 6:09am
Hey traders,

I've been trading with some bad habits which I am aware of. Every single time it happens, I say to myself not to repeat it and once I am in front of my screen and about to enter, exit or manage a trade, I forget about my bad habit and stupid mistakes until they happen again. Often times, when I realize them as they happen, I cannot tell my mind to stop doing this BS. Once I lay down in bed, preparing for trading the next day, I keep telling myself that THIS was the last time, it won't happen again. And guess what happens the next day ...

Some of my bad habits:

1.) Moving SL into profit after price goes nicely in my favor. Once moved and placed on a correct position and price comes back and close to my SL, I start moving it around, hoping price will go into my direction again and often just get taken out with a small profit instead.

2.) Not taking profits when my feeling says I should ... or when reaching a decent risk:reward. Instead, I get greedy and very often punished, resulting in profit returning (but once I do not let it run and take my profits, price flies away in my favor .. ugh).

3.) Using a working and tested strategy of mine but sometimes still second-guessing myself and then missing the entry ... and then cursing myself why I didn't take the trade. Not sure how to improve that.

4.) Getting rid of the "I knew it!"-feeling. It blocks my mind.

So far that's all as far as I remember. Any tips and advice? And before someone says I should read trading psychological books ... I did and it was fine but after few days/weeks, my bad habits are back that refer to psychology.
Changing the SL & TP levels in the running trade is really a big problem.
Quoting GeorgeBaile
Changing the SL & TP levels in the running trade is really a big problem.
Indeed.
[quote=RaysJourney;10950873]Hey traders, I've been trading with some bad habits which I am aware of. Every single time it happens, I say to myself not to repeat it and once I am in front of my screen and about to enter, exit or manage a trade, I forget about my bad habit and stupid mistakes until they happen again. Often times, when I realize them as they happen, I cannot tell my mind to stop doing this BS. Once I lay down in bed, preparing for trading the next day, I keep telling myself that THIS was the last time, it won't happen again. And guess what happens the next day ... Some of my bad habits:

Hi, I have done this many many times in the past, you are not alone.
without using too many cliche's , the best one being is
your future is in your own hands...

If you had a legitimate trade would you be prepared to put everything on it?in theory you should but it would be foolish.

if you think where the trade will go , would you put everything on it, that is stupid.

Take your trade and look at it in percentage %%% gain and build up.
and for fun, just have a wild trade every so often, like putting the odd coin into a slot machine or betting a horse.
SEE LINE,TRADE LINE..PRICE HAS TO GO SOMEWHERE,,, PRICE WILL GO SOMEWHERE.
Quoting billytt
Quoting RaysJourney
Hey traders, I've been trading with some bad habits which I am aware of. Every single time it happens, I say to myself not to repeat it and once I am in front of my screen and about to enter, exit or manage a trade, I forget about my bad habit and stupid mistakes until they happen again. Often times, when I realize them as they happen, I cannot tell my mind to stop doing this BS. Once I lay down in bed, preparing for trading the next day, I keep telling myself that THIS was the last time, it won't happen again. And guess
...
I like the first advice about going "all in" because if I feel so, then I am sure that this is a good trade.
This is the exact reason why I think only a very very few people is able to learn to trade consistently. You have to have a very specific type of personality. That type who gets absolutely furious at himself, that he set up his won rules and not able to follow them. Because 99.9% of the people, when they break their rules, they either don't give a shit, or they simply feel bad about themselves and tell "okay, i won't do this next time". That is simply not enough, you have to be EXTREMELY conscientious.

First everybody thinks he is a consistent person. Then trading reveals that you are inconsistent as fuck. And that is hard.

I guess you can train yourself to some extent in this regard, but not sure how. Probably punishing yourself when breaking your rules, but then again, if you are not consistent with your punishment, you'll just let the rule go after a time the same way as the trading rules.

Figure out everything about your next trade beforehand, when and how to enter, stop and TP level. Then execute and don't touch the trade or just tamper with it to the extent it is allowed. Then you must force yourself by sheer mental force not to mess around with your rules. You can also try getting away from the computer for a while after entering.

For me personally after a while it got better though. When you constantly force yourself to be consistent it gets easier after a time.
Price and volume reveals everything. The market moves on supply and demand.
Write down your bad habits on a sticker or print them out and put the note next to your screen so you'd always see it.
Are you my twin?

Quoting RaysJourney
Some of my bad habits: 1.) Moving SL into profit after price goes nicely in my favor. Once moved and placed on a correct position and price comes back and close to my SL, I start moving it around, hoping price will go into my direction again and often just get taken out with a small profit instead. 2.) Not taking profits when my feeling says I should ... or when reaching a decent risk:reward. Instead, I get greedy and very often punished, resulting in profit returning (but once I do not let it run and take my profits, price flies away in my favor...
I think everyone understands your points of frustration. The way out is to have:

 

  1. a financial plan
  2. a trading strategy that is valid and shows you where your SL and or TP's are going to be.

If you cannot achieve your plan then your strategy needs work.

PS your financial plan is more important than you think! here's an example of growing $100 at 10% compounded.

Attached Image (click to enlarge)
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You can see that without a plan, everyday will just be hit and miss.
Quoting Darastonius
This is the exact reason why I think only a very very few people is able to learn to trade consistently. You have to have a very specific type of personality. That type who gets absolutely furious at himself, that he set up his won rules and not able to follow them. Because 99.9% of the people, when they break their rules, they either don't give a shit, or they simply feel bad about themselves and tell "okay, i won't do this next time". That is simply not enough, you have to be EXTREMELY conscientious. First everybody thinks he is a consistent person....
Lovely tips, I will definitely consider the punishment part. My wife is here to help so I'll speak to her about that. Good points overall, thank you for opening my mind about these issues.
Quoting mlawson71
Write down your bad habits on a sticker or print them out and put the note next to your screen so you'd always see it.
Actually, my wall is white and empty and this would be a good idea to write down my bad habits AND to put some screenshots that I print on the wall. I think that sounds great, thanks for giving me ideas!
Quoting Mong00se
Are you my twin? {quote}
Hahahaha I think we have many twins but I reached the point that I need to discuss it with my fellow traders.
Quoting derekw
I think everyone understands your points of frustration. The way out is to have: a financial plan a trading strategy that is valid and shows you where your SL and or TP's are going to be. If you cannot achieve your plan then your strategy needs work. PS your financial plan is more important than you think! here's an example of growing $100 at 10% compounded. {image} You can see that without a plan, everyday will just be hit and miss.
I might believe that it could be my strategy as well ... I will have to experiment and see if it is my attitude or my strategy overall. Good points, thank you! And yes, I compound as well
Quoting RaysJourney
{quote} I might believe that it could be my strategy as well ... I will have to experiment and see if it is my attitude or my strategy overall. Good points, thank you! And yes, I compound as well
Ray, really discipline yourself to record it daily. Your perception of what you are doing and trying to achieve will change. I guarantee it, or your money back!
Quoting derekw
{quote} Ray, really discipline yourself to record it daily. Your perception of what you are doing and trying to achieve will change. I guarantee it, or your money back!
Or my money back hahaha. Kind words derekw, thank you. I am already starting to make a self reflection again, to write down things, to follow a strict financial plan. I'll take a day off tomorrow and prepare myself since I truly want to get rid of these silly bad habits. You guys are really helping. Also thinking about punishments I can do to myself to avoid these mistakes again. It will be recorded from now on, daily.
Arrange the bad habits in order of significance; the most important or most critical first. Take No. 1 bad habit first and write out what you would do to stop it. Use one week to act on what you plan to deal with the No. 1 bad habit. At the end of each day assess what progress you have made to stop the habit. After mastering the first one, take No. 2 bad habit and deal with it for one one week. Follow the sequence until you have mastered all the bad habits. If it means you have to change your trading style, that can be something you need to work on as well.

Trade safe and prosper.

KP
Do your homework, follow the footprints of smart money
Quoting KeenPips
Arrange the bad habits in order of significance; the most important or most critical first. Take No. 1 bad habit first and write out what you would do to stop it. Use one week to act on what you plan to deal with the No. 1 bad habit. At the end of each day assess what progress you have made to stop the habit. After mastering the first one, take No. 2 bad habit and deal with it for one one week. Follow the sequence until you have mastered all the bad habits. If it means you have to change your trading style, that can be something you need to work...
Hey KP,

A solid idea. I might be overwhelmed by trying to get rid of all bad habits at once but instead, I'll do it one by one. Lovely advice, thank you!!
Quoting RaysJourney
{quote} Or my money back hahaha. Kind words derekw, thank you. I am already starting to make a self reflection again, to write down things, to follow a strict financial plan. I'll take a day off tomorrow and prepare myself since I truly want to get rid of these silly bad habits. You guys are really helping. Also thinking about punishments I can do to myself to avoid these mistakes again. It will be recorded from now on, daily.
Don't punish yourself Ray. Be strict with yourself!

Look at it like this perhaps. If you start with $10 and make $1 you made 10% and the markets help you compound. Recording how you do this is the first step in refining your strategy and disciplines. Took me 10 years to learn this. This really helped me.
Quoting RaysJourney
3.) Using a working and tested strategy
Are you absolutely sure about the above?

My experience has been that once I fixed the problems in my own trading methodology, all the problems you describe (I suffered from them too) disappeared.

My advice is, go back and check your methodology/strategy.
Quoting simond2002
{quote} Are you absolutely sure about the above? My experience has been that once I fixed the problems in my own trading methodology, all the problems you describe (I suffered from them too) disappeared. My advice is, go back and check your methodology/strategy.
I never thought about that twice. My account is growing every month but it could be so much more if taking profits at the right time. I often give back 1-4% per trade unnecessarily due to my bad habits as explained above .... but perhaps you are right. I'll figure it out, working on it.
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