Hemisync and bineraul beats I find are very helpful to quieting that little voice in your head that likes to tell you what it thinks you should be doing. Ego I have tried a few tracks and some I find to be relaxing, some seem to evoke a kind of high intensity fixation to what ever it is you are doing.. the closets thing I could relate this experience to is taking ritalin. I find that its a matter of how much audio stimulation can you take and remain focused.. some hemisync tracks have verbal audio which I find distracting, others have to many mystical instruments that sound horrendous to a person with any sense of pitch tone. The reason is most of these tracks are designed for your eyes to be closed and not be engaged in other activities. After experimentation, I trade with 2 selected tracks from the Holosync collection..effective yet not obstructive to outside stimulus. I feel they relax and make me feel balanced, yet aware enough to react to my trading. 1. The Dive (induces the Theta state) 2. Oasis (induces the Theta state) [Both easily attainable free through a music distribution network, I used Kazza] I wouldn't recommend trading with any thing that induces Alpha, Beta, or defiantly not the Delta state. Theta you stay very aware of your surroundings and your mind does not deviate to random thoughts. If you are easily droned to sleep you could try some ambient techno or light trance tracks if you can't handle the generated bineural beat of hemisync. These genres of music generate weaker binueral beats just because of the way they are designed. Just be on your toes when you start. When I first started experimenting I held a position way to long once before I finally snapped out of my euphoric contentment. These are my suggestions from my experiences and what works for me. Hope they help. Good luck
I believe the "right frame of mind" is absolute trust and faith in a proven system. Therefore, I trade in a relaxed, confident state of mind. My function is merely to to be present should auto pilot fail: then I merely shut down the system by exiting the trade. I do not believe that trading involves "flowing", but rather "passive observation", if one is flowing at times, it implies that one is not flowing at other times, and both imply some link between market and trader - both of which, in humans, results in emotional involvement: that equals failure. Nor do I believe there are any "opponents". If you apply a proven profitable system, then the only opposition to success is you. If you follow the system you make money, if not, you lose money - the market not only does not care about you, it does not even recognize your existence unless you are trading huge lots. IT is not your opposition, nor are other traders who, like you are dealing with only themselves. Do not try to make too much out of the mysteries of trading. It is really simple: winning system + absolute discipline to follow that system = consistent profits. No matter how complex you try to make this, it is you and yourself trading against each other if you are feeling anything other than a relaxed confidence, and possibly joy, while trading.
Unless you're hung over or ill, your state of mind ought to be determined by your plan and whether or not you have the discipline to follow it. If you're so fucked up that you can't follow your plan, take the day off. OTOH, if you're using music or freshman philosophy as a substitute for a plan, good luck to you.
RIGHT ON .. it is "absolute trust and faith in a proven system" (Oten). My system is now so reliable it means you can sometimes see points against you and be completely calm and unconcerned. You have to obtain the Holy Grail .. its taken one years intense work of research with back testing and actual trading. Just recently added a further refinement but even before this my system was very very reliable. I know one market .. the Dow. Emotional content comes from not knowing .. the less you know the greater the extent to which your own emotions will sh*t you about all over the place.
...IMO you are absolutely right. If you have high confidence in your systems, you can break other peoples' rules, for instance, averaging down all the way to the stop when the trade goes against you because you "know" that the trade has a high probabilty of being a winner. In fact, I think you are a genius (discounting that you are dead wrong elsewhere on contras to bad systems), because my sole fear is not knowing what to do next. That's why I have elaborate rules for every contingency and think about what could or should happen next.
DB, I followed your advice...two successful trades today and a positive week last week, I still felt like crap this morning, as I do just about every morning. I resolved today that from now on I will start the day by going to the gym before starting to trade. My system makes me good but I still have to have a positive mental attitude to get through even half the day.
Your are lucky, it took me two + tears to finally have utter faith and trust in the system I use - now emotion is gone - except the joy of making good money the easy way. Best Oten