Besides Kiev's books, I haven't found anything to help me stay in trades longer. I'd like to find some exercises or reading material to help me work on just that. Sometimes I feel like if I just walked away from my computer for 5 minutes after opening a trade I'd make a lot more money. I'm great at cutting losers, but also great at cutting winners.
I may be an exception to the rule, but I don't really understand the discipline dilemma. I have a given set of rules that I always follow during the trading day. If the market does A, I do B. If condition ABC occurs, I take action XYZ. No decisions made in mid stride, only automated responses based on pregame planning. I guess what I'm saying is, why not develop a set of flexible rules so that you don't have to make fresh decisions under duress? The need for "freedom of the moment" is overrated in my opinion. If you can't write out your reasons beforehand then your reasons weren't all that clear to begin with (in my opinion). A finely tuned system also enables you to handle more activity / more positions at once. I couldn't do half of what I do if I had to constantly think on the fly.
Yeah Dark, that's what I was going to say also. You either have a plan and follow it, have a plan and don't follow it or don't have a plan for staying in trades "longer".
Try thinking about baseball. or big ugly women. but seriously, have a plan and stick to it...sometimes I'll set my stops and physically get up and do something else.
If everybody had the steely disciplinet hat darkhorse has, we'd all be millionaires. The fact is, we are not machines and we overcome to human emotions. As the saying goes, "It's not that we dont know what to do - it's that we don't do what we know". Why do you think crack addicts keep going back after being sober for a week or two? The main issue is that at certain level, it's not the skills that is involved in being successful - it is the mental game. Trading is just like professional sports. At that level, most players have the necessary physical skills to play the game. What separtes the best from the also-rans, is their mental game. Ask Michael Jordan or Toger Woods.
Actually I have tougher news for you than that bro. "Steely discipline" as you say does not guarantee you will be a millionaire. It doesn't guarantee a dime's worth of profit. Discipline is a necessary but not sufficient condition. There are plenty of super disciplined people out there who nevertheless can't make it as traders. Look at this way. Discipline for the trader is like jumping ability for the basketball player. You have to have it if you even want to be a contender in the first place. But it's no guarantee of success, just a requirement you need to take your shot at half a chance. Life is hard.
bungrider, it's tough. Here is what I do. I update my stops every 30 mins or so and just minimize my account manager. That way I can't see how its going. After using that technique for more than a year, I've gotten much better at not interferring with my systems. Even better; put on your positions and distract yourself by reading Elite
I was going to try and add to your Godly statements. . . however, I am a mere mortal. I 100% agree with what you are saying. -momo
Here is something that makes it easier ,NOT easy. How many weeks, months, years, days of 30 minute charts are you looking on ,,printing,,writing on ????????????????????????????? __________________ In all labor there is profit-----Proverbs 14;23a