Did you take time off from trading? | Forex Factory

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Did you take time off from trading?

  • #1
  • First Post: Jun 18, 2015 3:23pm Jun 18, 2015 3:23pm
i was wondering....

to all traders that make a living or income out of forex.

In your beginnings in this field; did you take time off from trading and came back to it for the better after your break?
I'm asking this question because i've stayed away a bit...mostly from this forum, but kept on looking at charts on a regular basis.
I just have not tried to trade...just lokk...and i believe this is helped me realize certain things about my view and approach.

Did you take a break?
Did your time off help you gain additional knowledge or did you just waste time?
what did you learn (if anything) during the break?
  • #2
  • Jun 18, 2015 3:55pm Jun 18, 2015 3:55pm
Quoting primaguardia
i was wondering.... to all traders that make a living or income out of forex. In your beginnings in this field; did you take time off from trading and came back to it for the better after your break? I'm asking this question because i've stayed away a bit...mostly from this forum, but kept on looking at charts on a regular basis. I just have not tried to trade...just lokk...and i believe this is helped me realize certain things about my view and approach. Did you take a break? Did your time off help you gain additional knowledge or did you just...

patience
  • #3
  • Jun 18, 2015 6:20pm Jun 18, 2015 6:20pm
Quoting diceman555
{quote} patience
"...sometimes i get so tense but I can't speed up the time
But you know love there's one more thing to consider...you and I'll just use a little patience"

:-)
  • #4
  • Jun 19, 2015 5:37am Jun 19, 2015 5:37am
Quoting primaguardia
In your beginnings in this field; did you take time off from trading and came back to it for the better after your break?
and i believe this is helped me realize certain things about my view and approach.
Did you take a break?
Did your time off help you gain additional knowledge or did you just waste time? what did you learn (if anything) during the break?
//-----

hey prima..... not in the beginning... for me, metatrader and mq4 were like a brand new toy for a little kid..... or the elusive carrot in front of my nose..... takin a break never entered my mind.....

breaks are good.... whether an hour, day, week or month..... no one can say how long is needed...... when we get hungry enough , we always come back to the table......

during breaks it helps me to look at every losing trade...... often muttering the same words we all do time and time and time and time again..... verifying my winners is equally important, as it is success that keeps us here.....
//------

for me breaks of any length help build confidence that when i return the market will always still be here wagging it's tongue and tail.....

like the hound dog on the front porch, it will be just as happy to see me as i am to see it......h
to trade and code, keep both simple... no call to impress....h
  • #5
  • Jun 29, 2015 2:07pm Jun 29, 2015 2:07pm
thank you for sharing hay.
  • #6
  • Jun 29, 2015 2:38pm Jun 29, 2015 2:38pm
I've taken long breaks in the past, usually because I was travelling, kept the market far from my mind.
Coming back fresh is a wonder, for ideas and motivation both.
  • #7
  • Jun 29, 2015 3:32pm Jun 29, 2015 3:32pm
Quoting Tavurth
I've taken long breaks in the past, usually because I was travelling, kept the market far from my mind. Coming back fresh is a wonder, for ideas and motivation both.
Tavurth,

why is it good to take breaks? I just dont see it there? You evolve while trading in my opinion better.
  • #8
  • Jun 29, 2015 3:36pm Jun 29, 2015 3:36pm
Quoting hayseed
{quote} //----- hey prima..... not in the beginning... for me, metatrader and mq4 were like a brand new toy for a little kid..... or the elusive carrot in front of my nose..... takin a break never entered my mind..... breaks are good.... whether an hour, day, week or month..... no one can say how long is needed...... when we get hungry enough , we always come back to the table...... during breaks it helps me to look at every losing trade...... often muttering the same words we all do time and time and time and time again..... verifying my winners...
By breaks I thought that primaguardia meant brakes in terms of months, Am I wrong? It really depends on your strategy but even then you day trade I think a month is considered a break but not less in my subjective oppinion
  • #9
  • Jun 29, 2015 4:35pm Jun 29, 2015 4:35pm
Quoting zabransk
{quote} By breaks I thought that primaguardia meant brakes in terms of months, Am I wrong?
Correct Zabransk.
before i found myself very "immersed" with trading.
then i took a good break..not really by choice..i just had other things come up that prevented me from spending too many hours in front of the charts.
During this time away i though about what i was doing and looking for..occasionally looked at a chart, and i believe this really helped me understand certain "mechanics" of trading.
now i'm back and surely for the better.
  • #10
  • Jun 30, 2015 3:09am Jun 30, 2015 3:09am
Quoting primaguardia
i was wondering.... to all traders that make a living or income out of forex. In your beginnings in this field; did you take time off from trading and came back to it for the better after your break? I'm asking this question because i've stayed away a bit...mostly from this forum, but kept on looking at charts on a regular basis. I just have not tried to trade...just lokk...and i believe this is helped me realize certain things about my view and approach. Did you take a break? Did your time off help you gain additional knowledge or did you just...
A rule I have followed for several years is 1 vacation annually paid with trading profit.

It serves two purposes:
1) Family time to decompress and enjoy what is truly important in this life.
2) Subconscious association to - trading correctly equals pleasure.
Patience like a Cheetah - awaiting the exact right moment.
  • #11
  • Jun 30, 2015 4:15am Jun 30, 2015 4:15am
Quoting zabransk
{quote} Tavurth, why is it good to take breaks? I just dont see it there? You evolve while trading in my opinion better.
Get a piece of paper and a pen.
Using only one finger on the top of the pen, hold it vertical, tip down, pressing onto the page.
Slide the pen in a direction.
Try this five times.

Notice how the pen moves often in the same groove, made by previous attempts.
Taking a break, is like taking a fresh piece of paper, and laying it over the first piece.
The grooves still affect, but the pen is again free to move.

I like to have my subconscious work for me, instead of having to do all the work consciously.
  • #12
  • Jul 2, 2015 4:02am Jul 2, 2015 4:02am
Tavurth,

I get what you are saying.

But I just dont do the lines with my pen. I also sharpen my pen and sometimes tune my pen and move to the different part of the paper.

Also on the one paper I can see better what I have done when I reflect back on regular basis.

I am not saying you view is wrong, just that it can be done without breaks
  • #13
  • Jul 2, 2015 4:03am Jul 2, 2015 4:03am
Quoting ForexCheetah
{quote} A rule I have followed for several years is 1 vacation annually paid with trading profit. It serves two purposes: 1) Family time to decompress and enjoy what is truly important in this life. 2) Subconscious association to - trading correctly equals pleasure.
I love the second purpose!!! Awesome. Even though the first is more important. And yes to have a vacation (pleasure in life) does make you a better trader I believe.
  • #14
  • Jul 20, 2015 12:34am Jul 20, 2015 12:34am
I was about 2 months into trading when I deposited a thousand dollars. Then I lost the money in about 3 weeks. Really hurt me. So I took a break from trading, about 11 months and then went back to it. Since then, I’ve been quite on a roll. Not a perfect one but I’m satisfied with how I’ve improved so far.
  • #15
  • Jul 20, 2015 1:22pm Jul 20, 2015 1:22pm
I've taken loads of time off from trading in the past, but always to work on method, not to stop completely.

Trading boils down to discovery plus execution when all is said and done, and although you hear a lot here about psychology, it's usually bad execution on top of a useless method. Spending time on discovering what works is really valuable but ... having been at this full time for a few years I've overlooked things which I can't even begin to tell you how or why I've not seen them earlier.

In hindsight I think less time trading and more doing completely abstract things to shake your head up a bit would have sped things up. In a former life/job, I worked in an office and we were all complaining about massively long hours on a project. We then decided to work hard but only to contracted hours. Amazingly, our productivity nearly doubled the office that was pulling all nighters, averaging 14 hour shifts.

Sometimes, less is more.
  • #16
  • Jul 20, 2015 4:55pm Jul 20, 2015 4:55pm
Quoting triphop
Sometimes, less is more.
from my experience i have to agree.
for me it's a lot trial and error...and in the time off i noticed how i was doing things that in hindsight didn't make sense...but being immersed i didn't notice then.
time off made me realize many things i was doing REALLY wrong.
  • #17
  • Jul 21, 2015 4:10am Jul 21, 2015 4:10am
For professional traders forex is work. And every human need a break (vacation). You worry about their profits, spend nerves and emotions, it's very hard. Therefore, you need a break to restore power and cleansed of unnecessary emotions that hinder to trade.
  • #18
  • Jul 21, 2015 4:27am Jul 21, 2015 4:27am
Quoting primaguardia
1. Did you take a break?
2. Did your time off help you gain additional knowledge or did you just waste time?
3. what did you learn (if anything) during the break?
1. yes ofc. The break is part of the work. What do you think why do you have payed holidays as employed? - to recharge your batteries. In some country there is a law: 2 weeks must be uninterrupted holiday. It is a very good reason. On a stressful jobs is clear why, but if you are lucky to get a job, where you do nothing 8h / day ( even for a few money) they you clear out your mind, and maybe you get to think in a bigger picture and reconstruct your plans.

2. It helps a lot. Even deconnecting even thinking what you read at the last book, why was written that, has some value that, can you implement it somehow. It help to think abbout other opportunities for investments. Maybe you want other , like real estate or maybe you will know better this is the "dream job"

3. After a major loss or a major win for me it need a break. It helps to regain sentiment and think why I have violated my rules and realize it is an error in my system or the system is made exactly for this wins or This system how often allows this huge losses. Several books talk about the trader left a position before he went on holiday, he forgot to close it or forgot a pending order, which got filled. Some lost accounts some made huge money

It help to share your vision and and if 80% of the experienced people it say it is not working for sure, then use less money for experimenting. Like a Martingale system for example.
I want to buy PATIENCE
  • #19
  • Jul 21, 2015 6:10am Jul 21, 2015 6:10am
Yes, took a break from trading. Sold all my books and years of notes on technical analysis, psychology, money management, basically everything about trading. I got trading completely off my mind and focused my mind on aligning my inner self. No outside tools such as EAs, systems, MM, will make you money in the long term if you hold conflicting thoughts and beliefs about money. Why can someone make money from a system but another just keeps losing? The difference lies inside them.

For me, I truly believe making money is easy and effortless, and that I will always be guided and provided for by the universe. I don't see sitting at the computer screen for hours per day an easy way of making money. Easy for me means a program can do all that work for me, giving me the freedom to spend time on something else. For someone else who does not believe making money from EAs is possible in the long run, then it will not be possible for them not matter how hard they try externally (actions).

I was inspired to create my own EA with my new ideas. I wanted bigger winners than losers. I wanted to be in and out of the market as soon as possible. I wanted an edge that made sense to me. I wanted to be making money while I was out or while I slept. And I got all those things simply because I had pure intentions.

So my advice to struggling traders: take a break from trading to analyse yourself. Are you in a state of fear, nervousness, frustration, etc, while you trade? Those feelings are your indication that you will not get positive results. You cannot get positive results unless you are truly positive on the inside. Work on yourself first then start again, if success is what you really desire.
  • #20
  • Jul 21, 2015 6:24am Jul 21, 2015 6:24am
for me the most discomfort is physical weariness, my eyes are sore due to the long work with computer. For those who are faced with such a problem, I want to share one way: to remove accumulated tension, physicians also offer to perform neck massage every two hours, which not only fatigue, but also stimulates the power of the optic nerve. And do't forget about cold water - just wash your face.
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