I'm looking to hear about some of the mindsets and tips when it comes to balancing trading with life enjoyment. How do you dettach from the potential lost income? Obviously, this question is for the solid winning traders out there I will start with one. Usually I like to take vacations during weeks where there is a holiday and a early close day (like Thanksgiving week). Volume is lower and opportunities are more scarce so the potential forgone income is smaller. You only miss out 3 full trading days and can potentially relax for 8 days in a row (saturday through sunday in the next week). But I wonder if that's actually not a good idea because it keeps you attached to the mindset that you must take all the opportunities out there and missing out is a bad thing
they should not care too much about couple of weeks or couple of months... there is an old russian proverb: u can not have all the women and all the money... even so some people say one should always strive
I think any concerns arise from fear. The market will always be there, who cares if you miss a move-- unless you are operating on a shoestring or degen gambler. surf
reality is most traders would have lost money anyway, so by taking a vacation they actually made money by not trading also 90% of the money is made 10% of the days, so by taking a vacation you're not missing anything also market is seasonal so you know when you can take days off
That's one of the biggest drawbacks of trading. It's a labor, not a business, which runs whether you work, sleep or dive on the reef (which I did last time a whole 5 months ago, but already booked again, can't wait for 3 weeks to pass ).
I run a fully automated system so the question is quite different, but still interesting. Do you: a) Turn the system off and close all positions? b) Turn the system off, but leave your positions on (Okay this isn't a serious proposal....) c) Leave the system on, but only allow it to do closing trades and not open new ones? d) Leave the system on to trade normally, but with say 50% of normal risk? e) Leave the system on to trade normally f) Some other option I haven't thought of (a) is essentially going to mean lost income, plus an extra cost in commissions and spreads. For short holidays (say up to a week, assuming I have access to my email which means I can read trading reports) I am usually comfortable with option (d). Last year I took a 3 week summer vacation, and went for a combination of options c and d, closing some . As it turned out I screwed up and filled the hard disk on my trading computer after a week so the system didn't run (accidental option B). It kind of turned out okay in the end (lost less than if I'd left the system on); but right now I'm thinking that option (c) is the most reassuring, and when I go on a 10 day holiday next month thats probably what I'll do.
From a psychological perspective, whatever dough you are making is obviously not enough for you just now. So my advice would be to stick to your actual holidays regime. Whener you have reached heights where you feel more will not mean much, then, increasing your holidays will be a natural thing.
Every time I go on vacation the week before is incredible ...LOL. As I trade grains I try to take vacation outside of the volatile crop growing season( spring-summer ). I told everybody about it last year but it didn't work. This year I take one week in early July with my friends and 2 in august with my girlfriend...I am the one who can take his holidays whenever I want so I just follow my friends who can't... Chill out a little bit on the missed opportunities...Not only your life is much richer if you travel a few weeks per year but a break is actually good for your trading...You get a fresh look at your trading when you come back...
My thinking is that if we cannot detach ourselves from potential lost income then we are ultimately ruled by the money. We've simply transferred the negatives of a company, boss, or "superior" to this new boss and I'd think a desirable goal would be not to be ruled by anything. PS: I'm surprising you guys are talking of week long "vacations." For me it's not a vacation unless it's a 3+ weeks, preferably longer.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=adrienne+toghraie The best audios are: trading plan and discipline. Listen as many times as you can and you will have the right mindset for trading.