Fear left me when I started making completely mechanical decisions. No thinking or guessing, just act like a machine. If you can't follow the rules, then nothing will help.
sbn, Hesitation was a real killer for me in the first 6 months. Try reading Mark Douglas - Trading in the Zone. It helped me a lot. Cheers
Fear is not real, it's just a concept in your head about some negative future event that in all probability will never occur exactly as you imagined, if at all (the whole subject is covered extensively in Buddhism, so please do some research before ridiculing). I think it was Mark Twain that said something like: " my life has been full of terrible misfortune, most of which never occurred". Fear blinds one to the reality of the present and makes one careless and stupid. If you experience fear in your trading then you are attached to some future outcome, are uncertain about your approach and in turn are not sufficiently present to the market as it unfolds in front of you, which will often lead to poor decisions and disappointment. Once you have sufficient awareness of yourself, and of your system's strengths and weaknesses, fear will leave you as quickly as it came.
http://www.investorsinsight.com/otb_va_print.aspx?EditionID=264 Emotion, Neuroscience And Investing Investors as dopamine addicts By James Montier
Thank you. As one who has just been informed that her live account is ready to trade - this made me laugh so much it took my fear away!! I'll just lay back and enjoy it then LOL!!
Very insightful. It made me remember the book I read a few years ago " Feel the Fear - But do it anyway". That combined with tomcole's contribution has set me up just right! Thanks everybody. You've no idea what your posts contribute to the jobbing trader. From the banal to the educated. From the wisecracks to the downright bitter and twisted you all contribute to the spice of trading life. I salute you. Happy Pipping. PipGoddess I think I'll start a diary of my live account antics. That'll bore you all to death!!
I try to overcome my fear by trading with small amount of shares. I then go to more shares after I overcame my fear.