I believe ego should not be killed in this case. Simply, we switch our focus to something different. Our ego bothers us with pain of being wrong on individual trades? What we do is tell to ourselves: "I am going to be cool, very cool trader if I manage to deal with this fact of losing and manage every trade according to a plan, not obeying emotions". After some practice, it switches ego focus to being a great trader in a sense of executing everything correctly. And one feels bold for taking losses just as taking winners. Similar simple drills can be quite productive.
A little bit off topic, but this example suits very well in our earlier discussion with Achilles28 about failed patterns being a sort of a pattern themselves. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3453272#post3453272
IMO, violence to yourself is not optimal way to achieve goals. Much more productive is practice some exercises to transform your intents, even subliminal into something that suits your conscious goals.
"Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally." -David Frost "Belief in oneself is one of the most important bricks in building any successful venture." -Lydia M. Child
You're talking about automating reading a chart? That has NOTHING to do with automating a trading algorithm. The algorithm does not care what the chart looks like, it cares about what the DATA / PRICE is doing and while you think you can see it, the algorithm can see it faster and react quicker. Many Automated Trading programs DON'T EVEN HAVE CHARTS!
winners never quit. quitters never win. all about the attitude. not psychology. among the trading community, only 5% win. because they are persistant, even stubborn. they do not feel boring if they keep doing the same thing. while other 95% think they are smart, they keep trying and searching for the sure thing. they are not trading, they are search for the holy grail. everyone knows, there is No such thing. trading is the simplest job among all professions. just mouse click! money may roll in! I see some guys who stack a bunch of indicators on their charts, do they become winners? doubt it!