I am so F** mad at myself. I deviated from my plan today and took trades that I basically created out of thin air. ARRGH, still made $ this week, but so what. Did great all week until today and this very old bad habit came back to haunt me. I am not even happy about the "out of system" trade that I took that made $$... it is not good trading. ARRGHH... anyone else suffer from this? any solutions ?
There are many takeaways when you realize you were playing a game you knew nothing about. Don't beat yourself up for it : learn from it. It's no different than testing a new idea live, not sim. The fact you profited tells you something about the idea! The fact you had the courage to deviate from your plan live, says something. The fact you recognize it was a deviation from your plan says something. Don't beat yourself up. Not every idea works. But that does not mean you cease having new ideas. You only need a moratorium on new ideas while you find your groove. Learn. Grow. Have a nice weekend!
If you can't be disciplined yourself, the only way left is to automate your trading. It might not be easy, but who said that trading would be easy.
Details on how you deviated? I realize trades were not in the plan. I write down type of entry and what conditions allowed it and type of exit. Also I place a combined order with a market or limit and a stop.
Solutions: Document your bad trading habits, trades outside the trading plan even if the trades result as a profit. Be very specific about the details of the bad trading (lack of discipline). You got to have it in writing on your desk in plain sight while you're trading including the steps you need to take to be a discipline trader. Bad habits that lead to profits usually set you up for a blow up day or worst down the road and the profits can subconsiously encourage you that it's OK to lack discipline when your trade...it'll lead to profits...that's when the blow up day or worst happens. wrbtrader
Your plan and system is not good enough. If they were, you wouldn't deviate from it. Also, the better the system, the easier to follow the plan and the system. You probably have a very discretionary approach and are interpreting live market data that's flashing in front of you. Work on better rules/criteria for entry/exit.
I've almost wiped out trades against the plan these days, ie counter trend gambling plays. My Current issue is holding when the trend turns on me and waiting for a trend re-change which risks literally wiping my account out, too often.
I hear that. I have now done it twice this year. In Feb I bailed after a few days at the bottom, and the market recovered. Oops. This time, I held for a month and the market did not recover much at all, so I bailed kinda' near the bottom. Oops. Damned if I do, you know?
A retail trader that even has a trading plan is a remarkable in itself, let alone caring if you are in sync with it. We all start out much like the baby on the Etrade commercial, just trading at the whim of the moment - letting instant gratification do all the thinking. As long as we are we are always improving its all good. “The trading rules I live by are: 1. Cut losses. 2. Ride winners. 3. Keep bets small. 4. Follow the rules without question. 5. Know when to break the rules.” Ed Seykota.