Hi, I know a friend of mine who said to me he meditate about 20-30 minutes before starting to trade, and play a kind of slow instrumental music. (Before trading). Also he said he uses a kind of positive mental reinforcements, like going over his minds what to do during certain situations. It seem to me that he placed a great importance on mental power to calm himself as part of the overall trading strategy. Poor guy. Maybe it's because he managed other people's money too. More stressful. But that's quite interesting and makes me wondering, do you all also practice any kind of any mental preparation? Like, you know, for example athletes will mentally pump themselves up before a game. I guess my friend is doing a version of that, but to make himself more calm/ clear-headed. And he did it by meditating and slow music. How about you?
I guess it depends on the person. If you can bring yourself to the relaxed but focused state on your own, you dont need any outside help. For example, I dont use anything. I know when the bell rings at 9:30, my brain, my eyes, my hands etc know what they have to do and then its just a matter of waiting patiently and then pouncing aggressively on the "good setups".
Well if you want to go down that path you may want to try: http://www.centerpointe.com/index.php http://www.mindfold.com/index.htm