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

  • #21
  • Apr 10, 2018 10:50am Apr 10, 2018 10:50am
Quoting derekw
{quote} 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.
I'll do my best derekw and maybe punishments are necessary hehe.
  • #22
  • Apr 10, 2018 11:13am Apr 10, 2018 11:13am
In stitches. Ok, I give in. Let your wife dish out the punishments!
  • #23
  • Apr 10, 2018 11:38am Apr 10, 2018 11:38am
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 what happens the next day...
it is great, and a huge step in the right direction to know the areas where you want to improve, and be able to see critically your trading, enough, for initiate some change.

some ideas for your list

1. if overly concerned about the TP/SL, and catch yourself trying to second guess your decision too often, probably trading too big size to feel comfortable. smart to keep risk and emotions on the lower end.

2. may consider partial close. unless you only trade 0.01 lot sizes, it is possible to take half or whatever amount out. some anxiety gone, the rest should be easier to run its course

3. there is always another trade. i miss many, waiting for the best i can get, sometimes too long. but you need to let this self beating go. a person not a robot, there will be always missed trade. you should focus on the ones you take to be the ones you really feel strongly you like to have. did i say there is always another trade?

4. learn to observe things without a grudge. without beating yourself for whatever outcome "i knew it!". make a note, mentally, that you were right or wrong. in time you will have a stronger feeling to trust or not trust your feelings that lead to the "i knew it!" moments. as in point#3.

with time comes experience, experience that build confidence ( not overconfidence). that will help you to keep to your trading rules, and break them occasionally if that you feel the right move is.
if your trading style match what your personal preference is, even better.
for one, i scalp. i cant stand waiting for a trade to develop for days, even though i had success trading swing too.
i also miss entries, but learnt not to beat up myself about it.
i also take profit early, and sometimes dont take losses early enough.
but in time learnt what my trading is and isnt, and giving myself enough room for discretion to be right or wrong, something i feel strong about.
one thing i dont change is the equity SL. the only "external control", the protection of myself, from myself
there is always, always another trade!!
  • #24
  • Edited 1:53pm Apr 10, 2018 1:41pm | Edited 1:53pm
You need to practice discipline and work on eliminating this immediately. Do not allow these issues to form as habits as they take years to break.

Discipline is like a muscle that needs training and you can practice it in EVERY area of your life.

I know these sound completely unrelated but you will be shocked what a difference having all round discipline in your life helps trading. Some generic examples, pick your own, write them down and stick to them:

1) Go to bed no later than 10pm every day
2) Alarm at 6:30am and up and ready.
3) Make the bed when you wake up
4) Do the dishes after every meal.
5) Go for a 30 minute walk or some exercise every day.
6) Say no to temptations like junk food, booze etc.
7) No more than 2-4 hours per day chart watching. Set a timer and walk away.

Pick the areas in life where you're generally sloppy, write it down, stick it on the wall and fix it.

Once you are disciplined in life then applying discipline to trading becomes easy once part of your subconscious. Take a couple of weeks off trading and then see what difference it makes. This in itself is another discipline practice where just you watch the market while resisting pulling the trigger.
  • #25
  • Apr 10, 2018 1:46pm Apr 10, 2018 1:46pm
Develop a trade checklist / criteria around your method. Then, instead of focusing on breaking all of those bad habits, work on creating the new habit of following that checklist.
  • #26
  • Edited 4:25pm Apr 10, 2018 1:56pm | Edited 4:25pm
It sounds to me like you don't really have an exit plan. You "think" you do, but apparently you don't trust it and constantly second guess it. Concentrate on developing an exit plan that you are comfortable with and then rely on it. Second guessing, with emotions like fear and greed, when compared to using math, are usually wrong. Trust the math, not your "feelings".
You cannot be extraordinary by being normal
  • #27
  • Apr 10, 2018 2:31pm Apr 10, 2018 2:31pm
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 what happens the next day...
" So far that's all as far as I remember."

I read that as you are not keeping a journal? First suggestion, write your entries in journal BEFORE you enter to trade on your trade station. Record everything including SL area, TP area, and time to bail out (like before major reports). Then record to results after trade closes. If you keep track of your failures in writing, it should sink in to you.
Ecclesiastes 1:9
  • #28
  • Apr 10, 2018 5:01pm Apr 10, 2018 5:01pm
I struggled with the same problem. My solution was to find help with Trading Psychology material. “Trading in the Zone” by Mark Douglas was right on point. The full audiobook can be found on YouTube. I focus on my trading system and not the individual trades.
  • #29
  • Edited 5:22pm Apr 10, 2018 5:11pm | Edited 5:22pm
I eliminated some of the problems you allude to when I started trading options a few years ago. When I enter an options trade, I do so with the assumption that a total loss of the principal needed to open the trade will be my "stop loss" - and that loss is fit into the overall ongoing risk management constraints of my book.

It's pretty typical of the spread trades that I do for there to be a fairly small risk-to-reward. So I can put on lots of trades simultaneously and still be pretty stress-free. It is also possible to calculate the maximum profit of these types of trades and so I will put in a profit target of somewhere around 60-75% of the maximum profit at the time of entry.

Set up like this, I might let some of these trades run for weeks or even months without any adjustments. But there are still adjustments one can and should make - closing a losing trade early to avoid the total loss of the initial equity invested, or adjusting the profit target on a winning trade.

I can and do also commonly trade bi-directionally and non-directionally. Trading spreads opens up so many more possibilities.

Trading options gets complicated and it is still possible to lose your ass doing it, no doubt - but the idea I want to get across is: there are safer ways to trade - trading options and futures spreads, for instance. If you don't know anything about it, maybe check it out.

It sounds so easy: "cut your losses and let your profits run." - in actuality, most people will fail at enacting this simple adage.
"If The Fool persists in his Folly he will become wise." - William Blake
  • #30
  • Apr 10, 2018 10:23pm Apr 10, 2018 10:23pm
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 what happens the next day...
Like many others, I also went through most of these issues (and have only recently rectified just about every one of them).
1) I now trade much smaller comparable to my account, so I am not stressed if SL gets hit.
2) Have set myself monthly and Quarterly % goals.
3) Once I get a signal, I take the trade without fear because I am no longer concerned about taking a loss (see point 1).
4) I know my approach has an edge of positive expectancy over a month/quarter time period of trades so whether an individual trade wins or loses is inconsequential (only if I have applied point 1).
5) Moving your SL can seriously erode the benefits of your systems' edge (whatever it is), so I don't do it. price either reaches my target or hits my SL and allows the positive expectancy of my approach to simply play out over the month/quarter. At times I will close out a little early if I have reached my monthly/quarterly goal.

Now switch your brain off and start making money...

Come with me if you want to live....
  • #31
  • Apr 11, 2018 1:41am Apr 11, 2018 1:41am
I also have meet this pace and still (not as much as i do before, but i manage to reduce the bad habit)

I would like to share the things that i do before trading that what it think could help (or at least this already worked out for me)

1. Take a shower before trade
This looks like a simple thing but taking a shower could help to clear your mind. Especially for us that still have a main job and trade forex after our main job finish.

2. Do not rush
Open your forex news calendar first, take your time looking at it and then open your meta trader.
Take your time looking at it. Stay away from the new order button

3. Look at the time, which session is it?
Is it EU open? US open? as you know the best time to trade is during these two time frame.
Even better if you trade during the overlap of EU and US.
Avoid trading outside EU and US session.

4. Analyze and plan your trade
Take a deep breath, release your emotion, turn up your favorite music and look at the chart.
Analyze it, even if you think there is a very good set up happening, stay away from it for now.
Personally i trade more or less 30 mins after i analyze the chart.

5. Remember to go to higher time frame if you doubt the trend

6. Make yourself as comfortable as you can before trade. Never trade when you are emotionally unstable or too exhausted after your main job. There is always tomorrow.
  • #32
  • Apr 11, 2018 3:25am Apr 11, 2018 3:25am
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,.....
Try self hypnosis.
  • #33
  • Apr 11, 2018 5:40am Apr 11, 2018 5:40am
Like almost all the others here, I went through the same symptoms.

My advice which is well known, looks like cliche but it's still valid and worth repeating...

Plan your trade and trade your plan.

If you're happy with, and respect your plan, then congratulate yourself whatever the trade result was.
If you're not happy with your results, then change your plan not your trades.

Good luck.
Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication.
  • #34
  • Apr 11, 2018 8:00am Apr 11, 2018 8:00am
The scenarios
that you mentioned
are not bad habits.
They happen to EVERY TRADER
particularly intraday traders.

There is no solution.
'For the market to work, it needs people who think that they can beat it.'
  • #35
  • Apr 11, 2018 8:15am Apr 11, 2018 8:15am
"There is no solution"... what?! Of course there is, but aside from automating everything and the likely fact you're overleveraged, then the answer is every bit as painful as you might imagine.

All habits are repetitions of behaviour and here's the important thing. They appear EVERYWHERE in your life.
Maybe you eat too much. Maybe you exercise too little. Maybe you don't file your taxes on time. Or pull your weight around the house, the office, your area.
I can guarantee you'll have exhibited a lack of discipline several times by the end of any given day and you won't have even thought about it.

And I'm not saying this to be holier than thou, hell knows I have to keep an eye on all this stuff too. But once it was pointed out to me (by a non-trading coach) it all became a lot easier. Change one thing, it changes the rest.

So it starts not at your desk, but from the moment you wake up. Every day.
  • #36
  • Apr 11, 2018 8:34am Apr 11, 2018 8:34am
@ Triphop

There is a short term solution,
which many traders adopt
1. take early profit
2. or scale out

I do not see it as a real solution
because...

one's R:R will be crap

Every system
has its losing phase.

Sooner or later
the market will move strongly
against one's positions

Resulting in
losing streak (for small stop loss users)
running losing trades (for big stop loss users)
'For the market to work, it needs people who think that they can beat it.'
  • #37
  • Apr 11, 2018 8:44am Apr 11, 2018 8:44am
Quoting AlastorFate
@ Triphop There is a short term solution, which many traders adopt 1. take profit 2. or scale out I do not see it as a real solution because... one's R:R will be crap Every system has its losing phase. Sooner or later the market will move strongly against one's positions Resulting in losing streak (for small stop loss users) running losing trades (for big stop loss users)
I frequently take up to 10-12 consecutive losses...
for just one direction change, which pays out for everything.
Sometimes there are like 24 consecutive losses.
Followed by one, two or three big moves. To close all.
The last 5-6 lines are what making this game so hard...
Attached Image (click to enlarge)
Click to Enlarge Name: cons_loses.png Size: 18 KB
Maadik Hugiis. IQ 69.
  • #38
  • Apr 11, 2018 9:04am Apr 11, 2018 9:04am
Quoting AlastorFate
@ Triphop There is a short term solution, which many t
Confession, I skimmed the first post and read it as a discipline issue. It's not, it's a strategy one.

Fuck me, writing a post about discipline, and I exhibit none of it. Couldn't make it up.
  • #39
  • Apr 11, 2018 9:25am Apr 11, 2018 9:25am
"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".

If this strategy involves both entry and TP criteria, then of course there is a solution.
Don't leverage to such a degree that you become nervous of taking a loss, and let the longer term positive expectancy of your strategy play out.

Trading Psychological issues aside, it couldn't be simpler.
Come with me if you want to live....
  • #40
  • Apr 11, 2018 9:49am Apr 11, 2018 9:49am
dont trade just hodl

if you dont understand that you probably should not be trading.
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