Anyone who contemplates trading should ask themselves one simple question....."Why Do I Want To Trade?" There are many wrong answers to this question, and only one right one..... "I Want To Find Out Who I Really Am" When you trade your monitor will do a funny thing. It will become a mirror. A special type of mirror. A mirror that reflects your self-confidence, your self-esteem, your self-worth. The numbers and lines you see on your screen are just that, numbers and lines. Market information. At your choosing, when you decide to become part of those numbers and lines (putting on/off the trade) a sort of test begins. A test about you. If you see the test as threatening, you will feel threatened. If you see the test as war, you will be engaging in war. If you see the test as one more failure, you will fail. If you see the test as the need to prove yourself right, you will administered the pain of being wrong. If you see the test as certainty, you will be rudely introduced to uncertainty. If you see the test as a battle of wills, you will sacrifice your soul. If you see the test as fear or loss of money, you will be giving away your scared money. If you see and believe the test to be an exchange of information, you now become the one to confirm or deny information. If you believe the test to be one of giving up what you want in order to get it, you will get it. Get it? There is an irony in trading of both price and time. It is exactly what you have to give of yourself in order to trade it with understanding. P.S. There are only two types of traders, "Long Lived" and "Short Lived." Both know the markets well. The "Longed Lived" just choose know "Themselves" better.
Good post. It's so true, they're just numbers and lines. Getting into a war of wills with them makes about as much sense as arguing with the weather. It's possible to win a war of wills with another person but not with the market. It's a huge waste of energy and pointless. Social skills and tantrums will not help you. When you're a child you throw a tantrum to get what you want. When you get older you use social skills. When you trade the market neither one works and you end up looking in the mirror for the solution.
This is one of the best threads anyone has started. But if you are trying to help new traders they will almost always fail the test of greed and denial. A seasoned trader also fails the test pretty often but somehow gets back up. As I'd like to say the market is a great teacher and it doesn't hesitate to punish those who don't listen.
Rogue Trader... I read and re-read your post... newbies will probably think you were waffling, and even experienced traders may glance at it and initially regard it as a bullshit post... (initially I thought your post was bullshit, too)... ... in fact, it took me a second careful reading and some deep thinking to finally understand how profound and how true your post is... everything I do on my monitor, every action I make, every technique I use all boils down to me, my fears, joys, emotions, motivations... your post is one of the best I have read... since reading your post I have already removed a previously unrecognised fear-based element of my approach to trading and have replaced it with something else... I managed to identify this fear-based deficiency simply by thinking about each activity I make on my monitor (I did this exercise through visualisation, with my eyes closed on my bed, and it took me around an hour)... I urge all readers to carefully read Rogue Trader's post, reflect on it and try a "monitor activity" visualisation exercise, similar to the one I did... at the very worst it will be a small waste of your time... but I believe that most people will discover things about themselves and their trading that had passed them by for many years... Regards, Candle
candle, Bro, are you serious or what? It seems like every one of your posts reminds me of Qwai Chain Cane (Kung Fu) stuff. It's not an attack, in a way it is admirable. I don't do any of this stuff, I just trade!? Of course, I am not a seven figure trader, but geez, I wonder if I will if I want to be!!?? And about Britney Spears, I'll take her anyway she dyes her hair! I don't know about you, but I don't mind if the rug doesn't match the curtains. nitro
Ahhh Rogue Traders post is really good I re-read it after Candle commented about it . its really the truth
The learning process can be painful. The unlearning process can be even more painful. In between the two is where the successful trader lies. In trading, learning costs. You will never be paid for the learning you will do. The application of what you have learned will cost you even more. Learning simply gives you the right to unlearn. Most traders feel it necessary to learn all they can, everything they can. Learning becomes compulsory. Unlearning, if it is ever applied, or for that matter even recognized, is deemed a distant after thought. The learning trader believes what and how much they can learn will be directly proportional to how successful they will become. The trader becomes rigid with rules as a result of learning. What the trader learns becomes part of the trader. A little nearer, a little dearer. Enter the market. The market can also learn. But who teaches the market? Why the traders do of course! But what the market does so much better than the trader is unlearn. With so many "teachers" and their agendas, the market continually evolves and evokes change. It is the trader with heightened awareness of markets who also unlearns, along with the markets. Learning costs. Unlearning pays.