are there any actual psychologists or psychiatrists here who practice or practiced in the past? I wanted to discuss this in relation to trading success What i noticed based on my limited data and my own experience is that trading success relies alot on one's ability or inability to adapt to changes and how fast they are able to do so And being able to tailor your trading style to your "adaptability" Take for example scalpers, they have to be able to adapt to new market conditions instantly and not hold on to "what seemed to work" 5 minutes ago While long term investors need to be able to not break during the daily fluctuations of the stocks they hold for years. what i noticed in myself is in general i adapt slow, i hold on to shitty relationships that are not working, i hold on to beliefs that dont work, i hold on to all the trash that does not work anymore naturally And also hold on to shitstocks that were bad investments and i should have sold long ago at a small loss But i can weather long term hodl without problems or stress. And when learning to day trade naturally i have to let go of old patterns and reset my mindset faster than i naturally can. So i end up consistently overstaying my welcome in stocks that i was supposed to day trade and not hold. What im trying to see if theres a way to change your mindset from being a slow adapter to fastee adapter that will suit me better for short term trading
The ability to adapt is also a condition that can be developed with a structured cognitive behavior transformation program, like NLP or meditation.
Set rules and follow them. Nothing to do with adapting. Actually you could say, in a certain sense, it is the opposite.
What if a trader sets rules and consistently breaks his own rules? Would it be of any benefit to try something that might help him to change? Is consistent profits just a matter of setting rules and then making sure we keep our rules? I think that may be true for a small minority, but there's apt to be many traders that are not born with Military-like-discipline. The term adapt simply means the ability to change. I've never met a consistently profitable trader that did not adapt or change something. For more evidence just read any of Jack Schwagers books. Every one of those investors/traders found success after going through a lengthy process where change was the only true constant. In my understanding every one starts at level #1 I'm not sure how anyone can expect to reach level #4 as posted below without learning to adapt. Level #1 Ignorance or Unconscious incompetence Level #2 Awareness or Conscious incompetence Level #3 Learning or Conscious competence Level #4 Mastery or Unconscious competence Level #0 Blown account now selling courses on Youtube.
From the Genius of Mark Douglas: "I AM A CONSISTENT WINNER BECAUSE: 1. I objectively identify my edges. 2. I predefine the risk of every trade. 3. I completely accept the risk or I am willing to let go of the trade. 4. I act on my edges without reservation or hesitation. 5. I pay myself as the market makes money available to me. 6. I continually monitor my susceptibility for making errors. 7. I understand the absolute necessity of these principles of consistent success and, therefore, I never violate them.”
Yep, I would say you don't need to be adaptive, you need to be open minded to being wrong and not getting emotionally wrapped up in being wrong.
Humans are creatures of habit. Habits are recognizable patterns that are unconsciously repeated over and over. These patterns don't necessarily need to be scrapped altogether, they just need to be reorganized.
i believe what You mentioned is a key for success in trading. It’s not easy though change habits and beliefs. Personally i have noted that these changes happens in relation to painful situations. In other words changes are necessary and often take place from failures, personal loss etc. i see it an evolutionary process.
Focusing on your last paragraph, the question for me is how old you are? Neuroplasticity decreases with age, starting at about 25. Factors like lifestyle, nutrition, sleep quality, stress, etc. have an impact on neuroplasticity as well. Between the age of 14 and about 23, there happens a process called pruning in the human brain. This basically means that unused connections are cut and we specialize based on what is needed in order to survive or to be successful in our environment. After this your personality is to some extent hardwired. This includes the question of being fast paced vs slower paced. So while you can certainly still improve in certain areas of your psychology after that, depending on the desired change, it can require a lot of time, focus, and commitment. And it can still be a frustrating and painful process. The most important thing to keep in mind with regards to neuroplasticity after the age of 25 is that you can only improve, i.e. weaken you weaknesses and strengthen your strengths. You will never be able to turn a weakness into a strength. People are successful when they can utilize their strengths, not when they are operating in an area of improvement.
I think different as I started making paper charts back in 1978, I learned the old fashion way of charting. To me adaptings' definition is reading the speed of price relative to where price is of a swing and memorization of patterns. Memorization of patterns, knowing Instantly if a pattern is supposed to be there in relationship to an average swing. Memorizing to the left of current structures that may negate a signal. In other words, adapting is memorizing good patterns that developed early and in middle of a trend for trend trading. Adapting can also mean not taking a trend trade when an extreme might be developing or coming upon long term trend lines. One's own rules, if price is beyond the nature of rules, adaption can mean to stop trading if volatility is not a friend. We all born with gifts of awareness and developed between ages 2-3, some are slow and others are geniuses. But regardless, you learn what makes sense to you, backtest and do stats to prove your ideas work first.