I think this is the only way to go. But, yes, is the final step. Yukoner has done/is doing that, at least in the past few sessions. Today, for the first time, Yukoner realized the need to look at PnL (due to his $400 daily limit overrun) for the right reason without any one asking/suggesting that he look at PnL. I think he is ready for your second step: "then slowly build back ....". The horse, on its own, has moved towards the water. The problem is he doesn't have tools to do it yet. He used the word "safely" -- seems to me he is still afraid of looking at PnL. Would a proxy for PnL work as a stepping stone? Only he can answer. Regards, Monoid.
Yukoner has exactly 2 correct days of trading under his belt Friday - when he kept pulling him self back into the present And today - when he repeated pulling him self back in Both were really strong trading days He's still in baby step mode - which is prefect..., perfect..., perfect He is exhibiting..., and reinforcing good traits - 2 days running He's doing exactly what's been suggested..., AND..., He's making progress at it We must give him space..., and time - he'll progress at his pace - not ours He's forging him self..., and his metal He's befriending his other - and bringing both into alignment Lot of moving parts to becoming a trader Patience MO - Rome wasn't built in a day..., neither will Yukoner the trader But..., he is getting there RN
Today is a new day We are the same No matter what happens / we think - feel / mkt does We work through it / set it aside / move on And do our job Trade well today Yukoner - screw the results RN
Day #26 (Baby Step #7) Fell asleep last night with a bit of vertigo, and throughout the night I struggled with that. Woke up this morning, and still felt some vertigo, but not as bad as I had during the night. (Don't know if I am getting sick or what) Told myself that if I was qualified to trade today, then I really needed to be aware of this and if it becomes an issue, then call it a day. Yesterday there was all sorts of reasons (or temptations) not to trade today. Things like my X being over at my house visiting our kids, my girlfriend inviting me to spend the night at her place, a feeling that I might blow it today... So I have to say, I dug in my heels a bit, and told myself that Tuesday I was going to trade. That all these other distractions were not going to sway me... that I wanted to keep this momentum going. (My girlfriend was totally cool with this.) I just didn't want to have a day not taking these baby steps... because I can feel the change... I can feel what the training is doing to me. So the day started, and I have to say that even though I didn't feel 100% on my game, it actually felt like it wasn't that big of a deal... just do what I was supposed to do... and to hell with the results. I don't want to say it was easy, because it wasn't... but it was calmer. I took the trades... and in writing down the checkmarks, next to that I wrote in how many ticks I contributed or withdrew. This made it a bit harder not to trade P&L, but I need some type of method to know when to stop at my daily loss limit. Then I got a great signal, and it was a no brainer trade. I put the trade on, stop in the right location and sat back in my chair to let it play out. I kind of stretched, and tilted my head back over the chair... and suddenly the room went vertigo and started swirling all around! Dizzy. Shesh, I lean forward... dizziness stops... I immediately close out my trade contributing 1 tick (It shortly went to profit target 30 ticks higher) and I got up and walked around a bit and then went and laid down for a while. After that experience I was pretty much done trading for the day. But a bit later on I actually started to feel myself again... ate some more food.. drank some water. So when I look at the charts again, I see another trade close to setting up. Now I wanted to take that trade... and it was like I could hear @Handle123 reminding me of being greedy (I think he used the words piggie wiggie in the post a few weeks ago) and I asked myself, was I being greedy? No, this was just the correct trade to take... regardless of how I was feeling. So I took it, and it went right to profit target. Checkmark. So one more time I evaluate myself, and I decide that if I was my coach, I would be telling me to call it a day... Don't push it... Finish it with a winning trade. So that is exactly what I did. +190
Seriously - you keep this crap up = you're going to end up a trader IS THAT WHAT YOU REALLY WANT!!!!!! And think of the emotional capital you not only preserved - but replenished That stuff is priceless Yeah Ya did (note; I edited above comment just a wee bit for accuracy) And a really good one Good Job Sir RN
Thanks @Redneck! Appreciate you pointing out the emotional capital I preserve, and replenished... never really considered that. This is a great point. Note: Come up with some way of tracking my emotional capital each day. Perhaps a questionaire that I can graph?
Ever heard of the KISS approach (iow don't over think / over complicate this stuff) You are - your coach / your mentor / your observer / your disciplinarian / your sounding board / your best friend Simply have a conservation with your self; ask..., answer..., listen..., discuss..., come to consensus..., proceed accordingly About everything - including your emotional state (capital) To befriend your other - be his friend..., have conservations = without judging RN
Here is my favorite quote that has made / saved me money. It pops into my head every time I am tempted to counter trend trade a strong stock: Step1: Wait till it feels like price has run too far Step2: Wait for price to start pulling back Step3: Wait till the feeling that you're going to miss the trend reversal becomes so strong your finger is ready to click Sell Step4: Click BUY immediately! Step5: Place a limit order to take profit at the price where you'd put your disaster stop if you'd shorted. Thank you Nodoji!
So far, I have seen no actual trading at all in this thread. How would one know if one was improving or not?