I play a first person shooter game -- very violent, in the evenings. Because the game rewards me for accuracy I don't waste my ammunition. The game also rewards certain kinds of shots with different weapons. I've modified my entries and exits to reflect these as different styles of trading the e-minis. Today I was papertrading the NQ. I had early losses. By the end of the day I had traded 32 times with 18 winners, 10 losers and 4 breakeven. By the rules of the game I play that is a reward for accuracy (over 50% winners). I ended up in the green for the day, although not by much, +27.60, after commissions of 312.00. I wouldn't have even had the discipline to continue papertrading if I hadn't had the goal of getting 50% winners. This has worked for me, so I guess that's my metaphor for the market. Bruce
DTPETE - excellent comments you stole my thunder... Nitro - You cracked me up totally I started laughing this evening and my g/f looked at me like I was nut's, so I had to explain to her your comments..she laughed too!!! rttrader -
I sometimes feel the same way. I try to break up the trading day and not spend every second in front of the computer. I find that a quick shower often makes me refocus and gets my trading game back on track. I also usually take a break in the early afternoon for an hour or so and go exercise. I find that physical activity does wonders for my mental focus.
I agree with this post 100%. The pain and an account value -> $0 will discipline you. The pain and suffering can be somewhat reduced if you can convert your plan to something like computer code.
Perhaps you are simply seeking excitement in your trading. Discipline is boring. Having a system if too rigid. You can outsmart the market! You can even predict the future, right?
I like nitro's Herman Munster ironing board plan It can be modified for greater effect if you secure about 4 or 5 irons to the topside of it. (the Tim Taylor way) I swear this to be the truth. I wrote out a clearly defined trading plan once (actually several of them) but anyway I'm talking about my first one right now.(which I'll call plan A) It was a decent plan, well defined, it told me exactly what to do IE: when x does Y then do Z. I think you get the picture. Well, about a week later I was adding an addendum at the bottom of my plan. The addendum was (plan B) and it consisted of one short sentence : Stick to Plan A !!!!! BONEHEAD !!! I must readily admit that I am one of the ones that usually learns discipline primarily through the pain that comes from the lack of discipline. = a whack around the ears via my account balance. About a year or so ago, I even discussed with a trader friend from Brussells a method of discipline that I'll call the *baseball bat method* Picture this in your minds eye. Two bonehead traders wearing football helmets sitting side by side about six feet apart, each armed with a Louisville slugger. Each time one says something like, "darn I missed my entry" or I *WSC*= woulda, shoulda, coulda, - then the other trader makes a roundhouse tower drop with his slugger upon the offending traders head.(covered by football helmet of course ) Anyway, we never got to test it, seeing as how I live in USA and he lives in Belgium, but we both agreed that at the time, it might make have made us better traders if we could have done it. In short, my story goes hand in hand with "easyriders" post.
i find that having absolute #'s for your setups helps alot. do your setups tend to be really grey/vague? this is a problem that might be yours. try to encapsulate your setups into a range of allowable #'s, like "I must not enter more than 3 cents away from a moving average". you will find that this is the reason why successful traders keep it simple. when you start having to think too much, you get yourself into trouble.