I agree that this belief is critical. Aside from the somewhat more conscious desire to be right, I think that people unwilling to let go of a bad trade implicitly feel that there is a lack of opportunity. This poses an interesting parallel with bad relationships that don't seem to end when they should.
I have learned to accept that fact that I have an internal timer that says - hey you are wasting your time and money trading crap. Sure that timer likes to put on large trades and make some money right now. And sure enough that timer has negative edge. But I would never view my timer as self destructive. It is part of my nature. Now you can view my nature from two perspectives. Natural or religious. As a former surfer I know that you should be in tune with your surroundings and your needs. To be able to be Johnny on the spot when the good surf comes you need to live in harmony with certain principles..... You can also look to the bible and the Parable of the Talents, Jesus told you about the parable of the talents and the need to be productive not just cause he was testing you or setting up an oppressive set of rules but because he was giving you guidelines for living in harmony with your nature. It is natural to desire to be productive. Consequently my Timer, is not a mechanism of self destruction, but an alarm telling me to stop trading this crap. Find a better day or a better market. It is your experience telling you your good setups are not producing right now in this market. The minute you feel that timer. Thank it. You have honed it from years of experience. It is only self destructive if you do not realize your timer is there for your own good. The more I read and think about this the more I realize Ed Seykota was pretty damn insightful when he said you get what you want out of the markets.
Self Sabotage is a tough beast to handle... If you want an entirely different perspective... read the intro to the Bhagavad Gita... the one translated by Eknath Easwaran This is ancient Hindu text. But to give you a gist of what is says is... The mind is like "software" (my words), it processes the inputs of our 5 senses and is meant to keep the emotions that the 5 senses raise in check. If the emotion is a pleasing one... great... the mind keeps it open. If the emotion is a displeasing one, the mind acts what we think is based on instinct, but what really is just a relief of the negative emotion that was raised by one of our senses. At every given point possible, the mind will keep all the senses in check and make sure they are all in their comfort zone. So if you are holding on to nice profits at midday... you eyes see +10 pts on the ES, triggers the mind to keep it coming so you trade more. If you lose 3 pts on the next trade, the eyes see this and raise the emotions of anger or sadness even... you mind will not have that and so you react to it... trading more or WORSE taking a day off and comming back the next day with the same emotion trying to get even. etc. This is just an insight, knowing that at any given point your mind is just trying to make you happy has been huge for me. Being able to step back and see how the emotions play out when a trade goes with or against me was how I plugged the self-sabotage leak in my boat! hope this helps
Read the following books by Mark Douglas available on amazon or traderspress.com Trading in the zone The disciplined trader Enjoy!!!
Life/Trading is 100% physiological. There is no evidence of the existance of the mind as anything other than an epiphenomenon (a secondary phenomenon that accompanies another) of the body. Before self-sobatage happens physical forms always make themselves evident as warning signs - whether its changes in mood, posture, breathing, etc - signs are always evident. When any performer is performing 'in the zone' he performs at ease on autopilot - no worries, no lust for results, no stickiness.
Self-sabotage? What is that? Online Trading is the Ultimate Computer Game. You must pay to play. If you play it well, you get a fat bonus. There are no losses. With such a concept, there need be no sabotage. This is "Immersed Trading", one step ahead of "Trading in the Zone" With due respect to M.Douglas, that idea popped up after reading his 'must read' for traders.
Odd. Nobody here mentioned the obvious get TS automate your system or system signals. Don't take signals that have not been shown. Problem solved. Sabotage yourself by jumping up and down too much from a huge win that you get a small heart attack.
I've had experience with this problem. In short, I found if I had a goal that my self-concious believed was not doable, then I'd self-sabotage my trading. Once I realized this and changed my goals the self-sabotage stopped.
I've had experience with this problem. In short, I found if I had a goal that my self-concious believed was not doable, then I'd self-sabotage my trading. Once I realized this and changed my goals the self-sabotage stopped Acrary I think you are on to something
great responses, thanks! in response to acrary: a theory: often in trading, but also in other endeavors, i keep raising the bar after some good results, until it becomes too difficult to keep up. at that point my discipline breaks down. maybe i just ask too much from myself?