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Just to be clear the demons we are fighting are listed below:
No. 1: Frontrunning - i.e. taking a trade because "so many things support it" instead of the disciplined wait for the setup - partially conquered!
No. 2: Doubt - hesitation to enter even when a valid setup has signalled entry.
No. 3: Wanting to be right on every trade - conquered!
This manifested itself in two ways:
- Clinging to losers even beyond point of validity (with hope as basis instead of technicals; also by putting a hard timestop the period of which is to be determined)
- Holding to winners beyond expected targets to catch "home-runs" or hail-Mary rides that would otherwise be missed
No. 4: Insufficient education and practice: working on it
No. 5: Putting myself at a disadvantage by overworking and getting the nervous system all strung up: Fixed by imposing strict time limits to trading and allowing myself to be consciously mentally healthy, stressfree and relaxed before and after trading.
Check out LMAX, they have spread on Euro around 0.2-0.4 pips and commission is around 0.6, so you have same 1 tick spread as on futures. They are very good broker and mini-exchange, similar model to MBTrading I believe.
It is never about outcomes - the only important thing is to focus on the left of the chart and then decide whether the trade is to be taken or skipped... and leaving the rest to the probability principle
If I would have taken the trade it would have got into a green area of 9 ticks in profit from where my fortunes would have reversed for the worst.
Not taking the bad trades which are bound to run into obvious chart resistance. Like the last one which I skipped... discipline.
However what if I took it?
If I am stubborn and stick to my 10-tick target in a bad trade then see it reach 9 ticks and then watch it lose all of the profits... is that discipline (after committing the first indiscipline) or is it stubbornness and a need to be right?
I believe that the FIRST breach of discipline is where I should go about curtailing and dousing that fire is the key instead of watching how much of the room burns down and how I managed to save all my valuables... makes sense?
The TopStepTrader Combines are a time-bound examination, with their multi-faceted parameters which form a triad by tying up these metrics to a trader's evaluation of performance, FORCE a mediocre trader to become good and a good trader to become great.
That is the single reason I am enrolled in the combine.
To make myself a better trader.
I would never have heard about this had not early adopters popularized it on Big Mike's forum, so they deserve credit. In the combines I am continuing my trading journey at a MUCH accelerated pace.