A couple things; 1) You are phrasing your statements in the negative, most likely this is why you unconsciously feel resistance to following them. -- At the top it says, "I must not blow my account by trading stupid." >Everyday, I learn something that increases my positive equity curve. >I take fewer, more high quality set-ups and profit thereby. >My trading improves with ever trade I take and learn from. Next it gives a daily loss amount. >Set targets <- gives the mind something positive to focus upon. Next is says I must habitually make choices to not revenge trade. >My patience is increasing to take better quality setups. >I have discipline to sit on my hands. 2) You have work to do in terms of integrity and relating to yourself as your word. By breaking your word to yourself, you are the person that experiences the greatest harm. Lists and checking items off the list supports the effort - more so if you relate to your word as a dynamic relationship. Iow, right now, you would have more integrity to just declare, "I am not following my checklist today." or "I am choosing to trade emotionally today." or "I'm choosing to do opposite my plan today." Chances are, until you create a track record for yourself with honoring yourself as your word, success in any endeavor (other than being a futile trader) will elude you. Accomplishments, no matter how small, build momentum for increasing self-confidence and self-esteem. 3) The pattern you've described is similar to those with self-esteem, self-deservedness, worthiness issues. It's a pattern of self-sabotage. Chances are you've grown up surrounded by addiction issues and/or absentee parenting. 4) You are currently getting your emotional needs met with the market - even though it's opposite your inferred goal of trading profitably. 5) The intent of your thread demonstrates that you are aware of the above issues and are attempting to focus on the source of your problems. I'm not a licensed therapist, take the above with a grain of salt. However with therapy, there are many modes that can support your journey. The primary activity that accelerates results is to start a consistent daily routine of meditating to quiet your mind. It's a you-with-You relationship with your inner being, the source of your own inherent wisdom and guidance.
Just thought this was interesting behavior on the 6E. The 1 min chart shows price rotating around mid-trendlines. I don't think there is a way to get these lines on a chart until after it's already made a few oscillations around a mid area. Too bad, because it would be nice to be able to predict these kinds of lines.
I really appreciate that you shared your thoughts. I think they are valuable and made me have to think a bit. However, I think I prefer seeing things in the negative, for now. Why? Well, losing real money is actually painful and dangerous. Kind of like touching a hot stove top or crossing the street without looking. Some dangerous behaviors need very strong negative re-enforcements. My current thinking on the matter is that by facing my destructive behavior of not following my rules head on, and recognizing it for what it is, I just might be able to overcome the problem. I also see what you mean by using positive language. That is a good thing. I think I want to use both in my trading plan and in the way I think about it so that I am clearly thinking about both when trading. Maybe nobody else has this problem, but I have noticed that when trading with real money, the danger of losing that money seems imaginary. I go from extremes of emotion of fearing to take a trade, fearing taking a loss on a losing trade to not caring one bit if I lose the trade, or my account, just determined to click the button and take far out chance that the next trade will go in my favor. This is like the worst type of gambling when trading. I am at the point where if I can't recognize it as such and really instill in myself the discipline of abiding by solid trading rules that I will have to give up on trading, or maybe pay for professional help...I do want to learn to trade, so I might go down that path, but not yet. "The Gift of Fear" is a book about the usefulness of fear in unrelated circumstances, but the title, in my opinion, can be applied to trading. If fear is embraced as a good and helpful emotion, then it can be channeled to warn of danger. My problem seems to be related to not feeling appropriate fear when I revenge trade, although my revenge trade is motivated by fear. I'm not processing the gift of fear correctly, and I need to in order to stop trading when I need to stop. So, although my statements are negative, they are purposefully negative so that I will embrace the positive. So, perhaps rather than focus solely on the negative or solely on the positive, the best solution is to have the contrast such as: At the top it says, "I must not blow my account by trading stupid." >Everyday, I learn something that increases my positive equity curve. >I take fewer, more high quality set-ups and profit thereby. >My trading improves with ever trade I take and learn from. New wording: In order to overcome the gambling habit of blowing up my account by breaking my rules, I will struggle to take fewer, more high quality set-ups and increase my account methodically. Next it gives a daily loss amount. >Set targets <- gives the mind something positive to focus upon. New wording: I will overcome extended losses by quitting after my loss for the day is met so that those days that are profitable will be given a fair chance to bring my equity graph line higher. Next is says I must habitually make choices to not revenge trade. >My patience is increasing to take better quality setups. >I have discipline to sit on my hands. New Wording: Revenge trading is an enemy that must be eliminated by deliberate decisions to turn off the computer and be done for the day. Sitting on my hands when I don't want to is the mark of a disciplined trader and that is the goal I am striving for. I'm liking checklists more and more and I think declaring in the moment, "I am not following my checklist" or "I am choosing to trade emotionally" are really helpful practices. I have actually said out loud that I was breaking my rules and overtrading/revenge trading, but it did nothing to stop me. So, there is something there that needs to be fixed, and at this point, all I can think of is to focus on fixing it until the job is done. That, for me, means I need to get to the place where I thoroughly hate revenge trading and view it as an account destroyer. What makes this difficult with trading is that there will be times when the move I was looking for happens after I've already met my losses for the day. It is really hard emotionally, to watch the move happen and stay out and actually believe that staying out is the right thing to do, because it actually isn't the right thing to do for an accomplished trader that has the funds to take a few losses before getting the trade right. It is, at this point in my trading, the right thing for me because I need to manage my money in order to stay afloat and also need to recognize that many times when I think I see a "for sure thing" in the market, I am still wrong, and so the perception that price is finally doing something I recognize may or may not be valid, but after taking my set amount of losses, I need to step back and recognize there will be another day and another opportunity, only if I still have an account with money left to trade. The emotional aspect of trading is far harder than technical analysis!!! Thanks again. Your perspective on staying positive was helpful!
Thanks, that was good! To put it into trading terms, focus only on what's right to do. Only trade the right set ups. Only trade when my account balance is right for trading. Focus on learning what the market IS doing. I like that. But there is a place for the negative. It would be foolish for a skier to pretend that there are no trees or that hitting a tree is fun!!!
Something that would help is the having a thick rubber-band around your wrist and snapping that against your wrist for negative reinforcement as a training aid. It's more a gentle teacher then getting one's account liquidated with real money and it might be enough of a fix for your addiction to pain.
Non-liquid foods are more likely to cause choking, leading to suffocation and possible death. STOP EATING SOLID FOODS!
I don't have an issue!! Ok, I do with overtrading. But I don't have a negativity issue. I'm using negativity to overcome a behavior I want to overcome. It works for me. Maybe it doesn't work for everyone. I only overcame moving my stop loss farther away from the entry by doing the same thing: focus intensely on being determined to overcome it and making myself spend time analyzing how it was hurting my trading instead of helping until I really came to believe those few times it helped weren't worth the times I stuck with taking a loss at the original placement or trailed closer to the entry. This isn't the same as looking down on myself or disrespecting myself. If I said to myself, I am a stupid trader because I blew my account, then that would be disrespecting myself. If I say I don't want to trade stupidly so that I don't blow my account, then it's treating the action I don't want to do, which actually is stupidity, as the negative thing. Seeing my value as a person is a completely different thing from evaluating the quality of my decision making.