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My Trading Journey: A Quest for Self-Improvement and Profitability
That's correct, change has to happen within. Luckily, because we cannot change the outside world but we can change our behavior.
Change comes from pain. A lot of pain. When you become so disgusted about your own behavior this then will become the main motivator needed for you to do the things which are required instead of doing what feels good (but is detrimental for your trading results).
This means that indicators, YouTube, gurus and practice in sim will do nothing (these are the pitfalls to avoid). Trade live, very small but live, and as much as possible. Concentrate on price. Analyze your behavior and journal your experiences every day (technical and mental). Feel what it is to lose. Make sure you have enough money to overcome the learning period (which will be long). Have no expectations, they create emotions which are detrimental to your trading performance and will set you up for disappointment.
I'm hesitant to comment, other peoples journey is personal to them and nothing much can really help until and unless it's experienced personally.
That being said you should take encouragement that you're aware of what your feeling/thinking in real time and the effect those emotional reactions have on you're trading. Being aware of this can take much effort and time even to realize, so imo this progress shouldn't be underestimated.
Neither should the importance of staying present or present moment awareness be underestimated. As Van Morrison would say "it's always only ever now".
What I would say to hopefully help is that any emotional reaction to trades is actually a contradiction to being present. Meaning, those reactions are ultimately a desire to be somewhere else other than in the here and now experiencing the pain. It's a lack of acceptance of what is, now. The quicker we can accept what ever's happening now then the quicker and easier we can deal with it.
So it's not about not feeling anything, it's simply a matter of accepting the reality of now. However much we react to the pain we feel won't actually change the reality of now, so just accept it. Your acceptance will eventually change your perception of the pain. The pain is after all only a perception.
You can use the pain/reaction to it as a real time gauge of your level of present moment awareness. ie: the more you react from the pain the less present you are. We can be present in a moment by simply being aware of this.
I would add that the extent we trade out of pain/emotional reaction and the extent we're trading for the money, the less likely we'll succeed. Stay present and work on not thinking about the money when you trade. That might seem a contradiction but trading is full of them. The less we focus on some things (the money) the more we can focus on the appropriate reasons for what's best to do in each and every trade. Money is the last thing, if at all, we should be thinking about or trading for.
Lastly don't ever assume anything, especially success but also failure. Every trade is in this present moment and that's irrelevant to any that's gone before or will come after.
I understand and completely agree with what you said. I once tried it and as a result, I got this Disco Chart with a variety of EMAs, MACD, VWAP, and Bollinger Bands.
I would also add that I am happy that both you @Miesto and @zt379 each made an interesting point which, at least to me, appears as a different approach, at least on the surface.
How many of us have raged and shouted at the screen, cried, etc.? I have, and quite a lot. It can be used as fuel to make some changes. I even got into trades fueled by nothing but anger after missing so many good setups out of fear.
On the other hand, and this is what I've learned from someone special to me, we can look at our bad habits when they come, non-judgmentally, raising our awareness so that the next time they come, we can say to ourselves, "Aha! Here it is again." Now, with awareness, we don't follow this particular emotion. It is no longer an unconscious reaction.
