i cant. IMO, if i would trade without it, i must stop trading. I am always feared as hell, thats why i must protect my money. But i have a plan for every situation and i know what i have to do after i lost and got crazy depressed. I know its fucking hard, but i most follow my rules then, to come back to path of success. Trading is hardcore. Lazy people lose. And people with no balls lose even more.
Agree - well said A very good friend was a MM on CBOE; left cold Chicago, moved to AZ and kept trading ES, options etc. successfully. When I first started, I would be very relaxed (almost cavalier) and say or do some of the absurd things I now read on ET.com. I would go to sleep with so much risk and not even appropriately realize my exposure. I would say how I had little fear. He would hear about this and how cool I allegedly could be under pressure, and would comment: "That's insane, and wrong. I am always worried and have reasonable fear at all times, I'm always vigilant even though I have been very successful; if I didn't have fear I could/would not be successful and would lose!!!" (to paraphrase)
I have never met a serious, professional trader ( a person actually making a living from it for an extended period of time ) who did not have anxiety. It is a natural response to the business of taking risk. If your anxiety is debilitating from a functional standpoint, then generally speakingthere are deeper issues in terms of the viability of your strategy and capitalization.
1.) Having a valid approach â yup (but then valid approaches are a dime a dozen) 2.) Using stops (duh) 3.) Total acceptance ofâ¦, and total trust in â a few key aspects of trading Uncertainty Losing is a part of tradingâ¦, as much as breathing is a part of being alive Your self The actions you will take Proper risk per trade ===================================================================== Anxiety is never necessary when tradingâ¦, a heightened sense of awareness (aka focus) is Anxiety and focus are no where near the same ======================================== Here's a suggestion Take a sheet (or several sheets) of paper and write down the reasons you are anxious Next take another sheet of paper (or several) and write down the reasons for each of the above Keep doing this till you can drill down no further That will be the root cause â Fix it/ them (likely itâll be one or two â all internal â and all stemming from your current beliefs - no doubt) ========================================= Tis time to become your own mentor â and diagnose/ fix â you (this is also a key aspect of trading) Hereâs wishing you a Successful Journey Sir RN
Hello, First post here on the board. I will say that I have a method that has an edge and yet I still trade with anxiety (17 years trading). The setup is semi-discretionary (pattern) and once in I have hard and fast rules for the rest of the trade. I have had huge years and I have had bad years. Because it is trend following in nature, there are periods where it is hard to keep the faith. I am generally an edgy person, so I spend a lot of time working on my attitude. I have read through all of the posts in the Psychology section and there are some really helpful tips. I hope to find the âAnswerâ to my stress eventually, as I really do love what I do. I will try your suggestions Redneck. I have also started listening to some binaural music.
Looking at all the replies after my initial commentary...my point is that no matter how many times you start a new thread on these topics of stress, anxiety and so on...the solution is always the same and you've should have notice most of the replies are similar to the replies in your other similar like thread topics. Therefore, if you're serious about understanding stress, anxiety and all the other "trader psychology" issues...you first need to know what's causing it, learn how to prepare for it and then learn how to manage/control it. Anyways, even this suggestion I've made is a repeat as seen in your other threads. Simply, you have three choices...continue posting threads like this or actually keep an open mind to the commentary, then go do something about it that's positive and helpful in comparison to your reply (smash a computer and smash equipment) to my suggestion of using relaxation techniques or don't trade at all if you can't manage/control your anxiety and stress. Thus, based upon your reply (smash computer and smash equipment), I can see why you're having difficulty in dealing with the "trader psychology" issues. Last of all, have an automated system is not a "guarantee" you won't have anxiety or stress during trading and after the program closes the last trade for the day if the results aren't good. I've met a few automated traders lose it (act crazy) after a tough trading day or blow up day due to a program error.
That shows clearly that you are not long enough in the business, to understand what we are saying. Even with the best edge in the world, you must fear the risk like the fire of hell. Because proffessional traders know, that the markets do not care about their edge, and it can happen EVERYTING all the time. There could be a electricity blackout and you could not even call your broker, to check your position --- while you the fuck have a huge position on and you have no way to control it......well and just so how the destiny plays sometimes, right in that moment, some crazy news coming out and turn the markets around, and your edge is worth shit......... FEAR is the only thing what you can have for sure on every trade, it keeps you away from losing to much. Print my words out and put it on your fridge and read it 100 times a day, maybe then you understand it.
You can have an edge but not trust the edge. It's human nature to want certainty, and in trading there is no certainty whatsoever. Even strict risk management goes out the window during a black swan event, a technical hardware/internet issue that disconnects you from your trade management, a platform issue, etc., though these shouldn't be happening so frequently or with such leverage that they endanger your core trading edge over time. If you have an edge and have learned to trust your edge, there isn't all that much anxiety. "have learned to trust your edge" Hard to believe that once you've invested the necessary sweat equity to define a decent edge the real journey has just begun. RN knows, listen to him. He may remember a PM I sent him a long time ago after I'd found an edge, yet struggled constantly with all the stupid crap Mark Douglas details ad nauseam in his Book "Trading in the Zone". I believe I asked RN something along the lines of "once you have a plan together is it possible to have no losing days?" I asked this because when I did my after-the-fact analysis each day, it was clear that if I traded all the setups within the parameters of my plan and followed a set of strict rules, I'd have almost no losing days. His reply to me (pretty much, "yes, it's possible") set me on the right path. I simply trusted him and realized that a true professional aims for perfection in execution, not perfection in end result. As a result of this attitude, the positive end result follows naturally.
yes, but............ there are so many traders, who make 10 winning trades in one row and then they lose all one one trade, because they had no fear anymore and thought they are gods who know everything..... Without anxiety and the consequent attention, it will go bad someday....... After all edges of the world, its still a risky game....