Emotional Traders wanted

Dear Jonny:

Thanks for your reply.

I think the urge to win could be that I think I will not be able to recover that lost and I am going to lose all my capital.

I could be what you say, that i am trading with expectations, I know it is a bad thing but I do not know how to overcome it.


Sincerely,


oggalan

The "impersonal" state.
How does one achieve detachment from this activity (with a positive outcome)?
(without becoming a zen Buddhist monk)
"Certainty" is the base ... should start with that (a cruel and impossible task) (:

Ok the fear of "thinking you will not be able to recover the loss and you will lose all my capital."

My advice to you is not to follow conventional advice which is to always "face you fears head on". Go around your fears by not thinking about them. I want you to imagine that your fears are created all in your mind. The world only works one way and that is that you fear is generated inside of you and your capital cannot make you feel anything. You capital is neutral . All reality is neutral only our own thoughts make it not so. Once you realise this your fear will become less and less. It could be instant or it could take some time. For me my fears around trading took about 4 months to diminish. Still sometimes I have a fear but it does not effect my trading so much as I know the truth.

Ok this is simple but not easy. Detachment is your natural state. It's only thinking and meaning that takes you out of it. You see our minds have the wonderful ability to attach a feeling to an external object or activity and make it have meaning. Which is something we have been tricked by all our life. We were told get a job, get rich this will bring you happiness but really we already have all have what we have been looking for. It works inside out not outside. The feelings of happiness come from inside of us.

Practice this exercise and come back with the results.

Next time with a friend, pretend that you want some money from them and try to steer the conversation to money and hint at getting money from them, if they change topics then change back, really go for it like your entire life depended on it. If you don't get any money from them your going to go broke. Feel what its like to be totally dependent on something you cannot control and to totally need the outcome.

Where are those feelings coming from? Are they coming from your friend or thoughts about the outcome or you. See the power of our minds to convince us that we need something that we already have is amazing.

Now the second part of the exercise is to have some money in your pocket already and you going to give them the money. But first you want to find out about what they would spend the money on. How it would enhance their life? Be really curious. Forget about yourself and focus completely on them. If your satisfied that it would enhance their life then give them the money. Feel whats its like to give instead of take, feel whats its like to doing something with the agenda being curiosity without an attachment to the outcome. Again thouse feelings are generated by you not the act of giving. Its your mind again creating the experience.

This is what it feels like to trade without an outcome and focus on enjoyment and curiosity. Slowly you will develop an attitude of detachment to money. It took me awhile not to close trade based on the money I was making but by my rules of my system. its only then did I become consistent.

What does money mean to you?

Trading is about making money. You either win or lose. Simple. Yet it is one of the most difficult endevours anyone can do. You see all this possibility on your computer screen to make large amounts of money doing very little work. You say to yourself, if only I could make 10 pips a day, only to end up making big losses and small wins. Have you ever considered what money means to you and how this effects your trading decisions. I have pondered this and came up with the conclusions it was a major factor in why I was making trading mistakes and getting emotionally reactive. What I realised is the meaning I attribute to money was directly correlated to my trading performance. The more I valued it the more nervous I became. I would not execute my trading ideas, close trades early only for them to later hit my profit target and let them run into their stop losses. I was being emotional reactive instead of responsive. The meaning I placed on money was like a filter over my vison, I couldn’t see my chart properly, my results or where I was going wrong and how to fix it. I looked for the quick fix, starting many systems and buying robots but when it did not give me the money I would move on. I was going around and around in circles. Then it all changed…

I realised “the meaning of money” was a problem, so I took a break of about 4 months (no thinking about trading or what I had done). I came back with a fresh head and new perspective to my trading. I understood the meaning of money. I realised that money per se is neutral (it has no inherent value). It is just a piece of paper with some ink on it or a number on a screen made of pixels. It is only our own value system which turns it into something emotional. You see in our society money is a highly prized asset. We see successful people with expensive cars, watched, houses and boats. We are bombarded with it on TV and at a very early age we are indoctrinated into the idea that wealth will bring you happiness and that there is better than here. When you look at why you are trading, the real reasons behind it and understand those motivations you become closer to what you really are looking for. I was looking for freedom, yet my trading was pulling me down, like a sinking ship it was taking more and more of my time and I was in fact losing my freedom. Now, when I trade, I look to how I can enhance my freedom and enjoyment. I moved from 5 mins charts to 4 hour and only spend a certain amount of time at weekends instead of 7 days a week with a 70 h week running on a hamster wheel.

Now I am trading with much more enthusiasm than I did before. I am actually enjoying marking out charts coming up with trading ideas and executing much more easily before. I can watch my trades for days go -200 pips without getting nervous, only to come back and hit my profit target. My understanding and trading experience is growing day by day as I trade larger and larger amounts.

So I’ll leave you with something you should look out for:

When your account balance is just a number and wins or losses mean absolutely nothing to you. Your trading psychology is just right....

Hey Jonny, I picked up "Clarity" on your recommendation and really enjoyed it mate, I just wanted to thank you. I'll catch up with this thread now

Hi TradeDream,

Really glad you found something of value in "clarity". As I said its really worked wonders with my trading. I'll be posting more "clarity" themed articles on here so check this space.

To your success

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