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Going Beyond Psychology to make Winning Trades and Nice Profits
Kind regards, are you sure you're in the correct thread?
"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." --- "Therefore, I Believe it and I will see it. And every day and in every way, I am healthier, wealthier, and wiser."
Can you help answer these questions from other members on NexusFi?
Yes.lol..
It can seem to deal with things unrelated to the thread and trading, however, I thought it quite an interesting 10 min clip
that touched upon many things that, in a sense, inter-relate to perhaps help explain many issues we may have
with trading.
For example, belief systems, the way our "conscious" minds have been structured, what we place value on,
that is mostly on "things" outside of ourselves, which in turn cause us to define ourselves in terms of those things.
For example, the extent that fear and other emotions affect our trading, and learning to understand that those emotions are who we "think" we are.
The video, to me, was a metaphor, if you will, for our rebellion against those parts of ourselves that limit
us from being our full potential and that a shift in perception or an increase in awareness may lead to interesting
insights about ourselves, and dispel things we took as truths, as illusions.
I can understand that it may seem off topic, but that's the way I saw it.
This thread has raised ideas and topics that are not, imo, easy to communicate, and cover many inter-related things,
so there may be many ways of doing so.
Although I would prefer to use the word acceptance than rebellion.
Transitions (internal) are not always painless.
There is a great deal of internal struggle (imo).
A fight and sacrifice, if you like, between who we "think" we are and who and what we really are.
The goal, I would say, is peace, inner peace and true happiness that is not measured by anything
outside ourselves.
Like I said "something may resonate"
hth
If the OP, deems it inappropriate, I have absolutely no objection to the post/video being removed.
I believe psychology is the single most important consideration deserving attention for struggling traders. If you are looking to improve your trading, you often need to look at yourself -- not directly at your method, indicators or tools.
Please join us for a special nexusfi.com (formerly BMT) webinar on Trading Psychology, presented by Dr. Gary Dayton, for more info.
Mike has invited me to do a webinar on trading psychology. In my work with traders, I find fear to be the number one psychological issue most traders have experienced, so I thought I would talk about fear in trading.
Shivaya - thank you for starting this post. Throughout your posts have been "on topic" and you've gently moved back to "center", i.e., the content you were hoping to discuss in this thread. I appreciate the posters who have presented their thoughts on why simply getting into the "sweet spot" is not enough to win and I agree with them in principle. Mark Douglas points out frequently that traders often experience streaks of winning trades at the beginning of their careers but then catastrophic losses which wake them up to the realities of trading (probabilistic outcomes). His opinion is that at the beginning of their trading they are trading without fear. All of his work comes down to helping traders trade without fear - he believes that re-understanding the reality of trading and aligning your belief system with this reality (probabilistic outcomes) will allow you to trade without fear.
I really like the topic of this thread and what you've touched on throughout - that getting into the "zone" and tapping into the intuitive side of your mind's ability COMBINED with eliminating the blocks to your perception of information and the effect that negative emotion can have on aligning your behavior with the good fundamentals of trading. THIS IS SO KEY!
When you are in a centered state and all your energies are aligned in your purpose, why would you hold a trade that is not working like you expect?
Why would you oversize a position when you know it has a probabilistic outcome?
Why would you get out of a trade that is working and still has room to move to a target that you feel might get hit?
Why would you hesitate to take a trade that you know has good odds of success - you are a trader aren't you?
All performance disciplines come down to ability and focus - trading is no different. My OPINION (caps just so everyone knows I leave open the possibility I am wrong) is that a trader can experience winning streaks at the beginning of their careers because the market conditions align with whatever trading style a given trader applies at that time. It is also my opinion that to become a consistently winning trader, one has to internalize a LOT of information about how markets (people) behave.
Many come to a point where that internalization has happened ( 10000 hours, unconscious competence, etc) because they've done the work of acquiring the ability - which takes time. When a trader reaches this point - the only thing holding them back is themselves - their emotions, psychology, all these things that Shivaya is LETTING GO OF through entering into a "Sweet State". "Letting go" because this is the orientation we must use - these negative states take energy to maintain and they only become stronger when we add energy to them (see Steenbarger's lecture on behavioral change techniques as they relate to trading). I'm going the throw-up in my mouth a little when I say this but letting go of these negative state is all about centering our consciousness on love - love of ourselves, love of reality as it is. When we get into this Loving Mindset we have no reason to hold onto negativity and no reason to act in any way other than what is best for us (i.e., cutting loses, running profits, managing money, continual learning/improvement).
THIS is why I find this thread fascinating and hope that it continues in the vein Shivaya has begun. This state of mind is where we want to be. Don't forget the hard work leading to the internalization of the knowledge required to trade consistently, but once there - put yourself in the "sweet spot" and DO THE RIGHT THING WITHOUT HESITATION OR INTERNAL CONFLICT. Shivaya - please continue to dance here on that border between Right Action (the fundamentals of trading) and Right Mindfulness (the "Sweet State"). Modelling this state for us is helpful - through your prose we can get a glimpse into the proper mindset that we are trying to enter into (this modelling is the basis for neurolinguistic programming BTW).
This subject is difficult to understand if ...you are male! And easy if you are female. Why?
The best person I've found on this subject is Denise Shull. I've read them all, she is just right on the money and in the 'sweet spot'. What is she on about? FEELINGS!
Females know how to FEEL thru things. She has got the attention of the billionaire hedge fund managers and has a book coming in December.
here are some of her teachings I've noted.
1. Embrace the Uncertainty
2. Physically allow yourself to experience the anxiety it provokes
3. Realize this will satisfy your brain that your conscious mind has heard the warning signal and it will lower the static so you can think
4. It is only a physical action that can cause anything to happen
5. Control the action you take
6. It's OK to feel bad, angry, sad, and not do anything, except analyze what is REALLY making you FEEL that way
7. Keep analyzing your feelings until you know what is really making you feel that way. Keep analyzing the data (emotions) BECAUSE ONCE YOU KNOW you have created mental and psychological capital-which is Power!
8. THIS IS HUGE! You have the ability to create Power within yourself simply by understanding yourself. You have the ability to create change simply by analyzing emotion data and not by mixing it up with action
9. We don't just think and do. We FEEL, Think and Do. We need to consciously and explicitly leverage all three
10. STOP controlling emotions. USE them as DATA. Choose your actions carefully once you understand your emotions
IT WORKS!
After entering a trade, it's OK to say "I'm really really nervous" It's OK to write it down, analyze it. It's data about you. Write down your feelings honestly and analyze them. This is key to getting on the good rides in the market. "Know ThySelf" means The Real Self, the SweetSelf. Where is this? In the place of no fear.