Last post we discussed our Dreams and Passion and Goals. If you are reading this or following me for a while now, I'm sure you are a person who is looking to improve aspects of your trading or even aspects of your life. Men and women yearn to change for the better. I believe life happens for me. Think of a farmer, he can't expect crops to flourish if he doesn't put in the effort and energy to sow his land. And that process doesn't happen instantly, he has to give it time. And through time and effort and energy spent, only then will he be able to reap the rewards.
Like this trading journey, I started off not making anything. I actually lost money in the beginning. But as I continue to "sow" my efforts into learning, my energy into researching and building my knowledge account. I slowly begin to see the fruits of my labor. Again I am not where I want to be, but I am not where I use to be.
So this week's post is about drawing emotion into your goals, to help you continue pushing forward through the thick brushes of life, and continue moving towards your goal, especially when you haven't seen any progress. Sustaining that drive is key and it will test your endurance.
Let's use some goal examples of my own trading. One is having a solidified trading plan before getting into a trade. This requires that I understand the fundamental of company. Know the supports and resistances levels, and position size according to risk and reward. This is a positive goal for everyone, but let me ask you, are you doing it? I'll be honest, I don't do this 100% of the time. Why is that? It's probably because I am not drawing enough emotion out of it.
By drawing more emotion out of it, I will be more inclined to push myself to plan the proper steps in executing the trade efficiently. How to draw emotion? Well, let's look at my trades this past week. $CYDY was an amazing panic late morning. I've been watching that baby like a hawk, what happen, why did I leave that trade with a massive lost while other traders walked away with their pockets full. I lack the discipline to create the trade plan, and by doing so I failed to follow the proper execution and which defaulted to a loss. I will remember this and I will continually use this as an "ouch that burns" experience. I call it the "What If" scenario.
I get into the practice of visualizing my trading day. Seeing myself plan out my trade, the feeling that I have when that pattern appears. Embrace that feeling helps draw deeper emotion. Imagining how I would execute the trade and following the trade plan I have designed. The outcome of the trade doesn't matter at this point because I can't see into the future, the main thing I want to practice is executing the trade plan flawlessly. To deepen the emotion, I will draw into this meditative process the "What If" scenario, What if I decided not to do this? Not to plan, Not to trade according to what I've learned in the past... "ouch that burn" experience will be revisited.
I hope you follow me on this. YOu can tell yourself to trade a certain way, but ever find yourself making the same mistakes. Or losing money when it's a winning pattern you were trading? By setting these little goals to improve your trading, you will slowly become the master of your trading style. And by adding fear into the equation, you push your mind into a motivated state to avoid that danger.
Some areas goals for you to think about:
1) Waiting for breakout confirmation
2) Risk and Reward in mind to determine position sizing
3) Buying near supports, .50 to $1 key levels
4) Adding to position only when the trade is going in your way.
I will leave you with another analogy, hoping this helps engrain the topic of constantly finding ways to improve. Like in martial arts, or boxing, or any form of sports. Starting off you don't know anything, you practice your first kick, and you practice it until you are great at the initial kick. Or you practice your free throw shooting Until you can get 10 out of 10 consistently. By knowing the area you want to improve in, you can force yourself to practice that motion until you have become a pro in that motion. Hope this helps, hope by sharing my experience with you, that you can find that little silver lining to get you from where you're currently, to where you want to go. Bless All of You much love, gratitude, and kindness. Payce!!!!!
LongCao...Thank you for writing this. I am new to the challenge, studying the DVDs, and haven't traded yet. I appreciate your honesty and your tips for improvement.
That’s awesome Gail keep learning and keep progressing.
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