Critiquing trades is very informative. I print out each trade with my entries and exits. I then make notes on the paper. That has done a lot to help improve my trading. I also keep a trading book that i write down my thoughts, ideas, and moments of clarity that spring up during the trading day. Seems to help a lot. One thing about printing and writing notes on the trade, it makes you honest. Its almost like trying to explain or justify the trade to someone else. I am very critical with it. Sometimes its a great trade, other times it was crap. But if you are honest about it there are many insights to be learned from your own notes and comments.
that a large percent of those who want to 'help educate you' are people who cant trade but have learned how to get their hands in the pockets of people who are trying to learn
Like I always tell my brother-in-law who is a teacher "Those who can do, those who can't teach" he doesn't see the humor in that.
Telling your emotions to shut the *bleep* up and trusting your instincts. If you wait, all that happens is that you get older. - Mario Andretti
Fear is nothing more than being worried about the consequences if you are wrong. With clear and defined loss amounts there should be zero fear. With that in mind are you as a trader willing to admit to yourself what the REAL fear of pulling the trigger is? Before you answer that question be sure to remember you are just comtemplating taking a single, itty bitty trade. Each trade is singular, not plural. Fear comes NOT from a single trade but from lack of confidence in your ability to win at the entire game. Fear is not being wrong in that single trade, being wrong in any individual trade is part of the game. Fear is your visualizing the ghosts of past losers when you did not know what you were doing. Fear is not asking the sharpest chick at the dance to dance because in your heart you know she will reject you. Thats a lack of confidence in yourself, nothing more. Without confidence you will never have courage and without courage you will never win in a game of chance. Steel yourself, soldier on, get the odds of the game in your favor. A 1 lot trader in a new game with fear is natural. Progress is a process of elimination the many causes of fear. Go slow but make progress. http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/30/8391794/index.htm http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/15-06/ff_mindgames Practice does not make perfect, perfect practice is the key to confidence.
Not sure how I've managed to miss this thread, but, yikes, glad I finally saw it. Thanks to benwm for posting this among other great threads here. Pretty much everything's been discussed but I'd like to add my .02: buying weakness, selling strength has really improved my percentages. It took experience to gain enough confidence to do it but very glad I made the effort.
Interesting. Learning to buy strength and sell weakness (and it took me a couple thousand hours of meticulous research to finally trust this way of trading) was the single most important breakthrough for me and results in daily consistent profitability.