Overcoming Emotions
Do you remember the first time you were exposed to the opportunity of Trading? Do recall the emotions you experienced and how excited you were? I know I was unable to sleep and found it impossible to stop thinking about it while I was awake! This is a natural response to an otherwise incredible income… and Wealth building venture.
Now contrast that with the emotions you experienced when you actually tried to Trade. I suspect the two are at opposing sides… are they not? We like to start projects but when the “work” aspect is introduced or requires more than we first thought… the excitement becomes a shadow of the exhilaration we once felt at the start. We humans want it easy, gift wrapped and presented like a well-earned token of the world’s appreciation for “just being you”.
Unfortunately, it’s not all about “you” and it certainly isn’t easy. Did you really think it would be easy? I know I felt the same emotions described here, but I can admit there were moments I heard the inner voice of reason, albeit for a second before pressing the mute button, telling me… “Michael, now don’t think foolishly”. However, like everyone else… I ran with my illusions and fantasies over getting rich by next Friday!
If you have been trading unsuccessfully, I don’t need to remind you about the foolish thinking… you know precisely what I am referring to. For those just feeling overwhelmed with the whole thing, relax… there is something you can do.
Write Down Your Goals
One of the surest ways to control emotions is to be organized. Think for a moment, the most successful folks in the world, regardless of their business or personal pursuits, have one common denominator. F.O.C.U.S.
Successful people make goals. Goals that are long term, intermediate term and short term. These goals must be flexible… yes you read that correctly… flexible! You are not going to always have it your way and on your timing. Why set yourself up for that disappointment? If I woke everyday and expected to find one hundred dollar bills stuffed inside my pillowcases, how disenchanted would I be at the start of my day? It would begin on a sour note… and finding misery on a bad start is an easy task, let me tell you.
The same holds true in Trading. Set realistic goals you feel strongly about reaching at varying time horizons. Unfortunately, society programs us through media that we aren’t significant. That we aren’t interesting enough, or that we aren’t attractive enough. We need something in addition to what we already have to be of value. I am here to tell you… the only thing you need… and I mean NEED… is perspective.
Personal Reflection
Where do you see yourself right now? Are you happy? Do you believe you deserve to be happy? Where do you see yourself tomorrow? How about next year? Do you believe you deserve to be successful and happy by next year? You’d be surprised how many truly do not believe they should be. Somehow a sense of self-imposed guilt or shame blocks individuals in their attempts to be successful.
I know some really smart people and I see them self-destruct on the smallest of reasons. After speaking to them intimately, their core reasons were self-sabotage. They want to be successful but they don’t feel they deserve it or that they can’t be do to others input or opinions.
You have to make a resolve to cast a vision of yourself in a successful light. You have to see yourself being relaxed, confident and deserving of a blessed life of abundance. Your vision should include a lifestyle of sharing and giving as this removes the guilt many place on themselves for being successful. Let me tell you, there is nothing arrogant about giving $100,000.00 away to a worthy charity. It feels good and those who think otherwise have personal issues to resolve on their own.
Do you see yourself doing what you believe in your heart right now… namely Trading and genuinely being happy? If so, how are you going to move forward everyday to pursue that vision? Will you give control and permission to others around you to derail your progress? Will you empower the self-defeating inner voice you encounter when it feels like you are wasting your time? Are you determined to stick to the process and surrender simply isn’t an option?
What Is The Plan?
Without having a clear outlined plan of operation and a procedure to work towards it goes without saying… fear, worry anxiety will all but plague your daily efforts. Your plan of development and business in Trading needs to be concise. It needs to be so refined that you can refer to it in times of uncertainty and find a process or approach for how you will deal with it at that time.
For losing trades, you should have a Risk Reduction program to implement. If you don’t have it written out and accessible, I promise you… your mind will race and emotions will take the wheel. You do not want your emotions driving you and your decisions. You want to be the Driver and the one In Control.
You want a written process for periods when you do not have a signal to trade. Yes, you have to have a process for times where your Trading forces you on the sidelines. What will you do with the time you would be normally using for Trading or stalking setups? For some it might, and I advise this, exercise. Exercise is an awesome stress reducer and many of my best periods of stress are greatly controlled by a good workout. For others it might be a hobby like knitting or reading. Do something away from the Markets… and allow your psyche to unplug. If you do not, it will most likely result in your mind whirling with ideas that you “could make ten pips a few times in the next couple hours”… and you know what that did for you the last time you thought it.
Why So Scared?
Feeling a bit anxious lately? Perhaps you fear missing a move? This is a common fear and worry I know first-hand. Early in my career I would see potential setups and I would literally panic over missing it. I couldn’t eat or sleep until I established a Trade.
Many times the Trade I stressed over was entered too early and my stop would be taken or even worse… as a result of me not allowing myself to wait… I had to move my stop away from my entry point. This exposed me to a larger risk than initially assumed. Does this sound like logic that equates to long term survival?
The root cause to my fear in missing the moves was impatience. I was impatient while waiting for the proper time to trade the setup. I was impatient to get the process of Trade Entry over with. My feelings were, if I could just get in the Trade, I could weather the storm while the Market gyrated and eventually moved me to profit. I can count the times this worked out profitably on one hand… in nearly twenty years Trading experience.
Why was I impatient? Why are you likely feeling the impatience in Trading? I would be confident in saying you lack the confidence in the method you are using. You lack the confidence in your personal ability to Trade the method you have adopted currently. It is only natural to be on a heightened state of alert and panic when we enter a realm of the unknown.
Instead of fighting it and putting yourself through needless worry… submit to time. The time needed to understand Price Action will be different for everyone. Some might catch on faster than others. The best advice I give is to develop patience. You will need it in all phases of your Trading.
You want to be patient when stalking a setup… and not force your will on the market. You want to be patient and not rush the entry signal for fear of missing the move. You want to be patient in moving your stop loss order to breakeven… being careful not to choke the Trade before it has a chance to develop into profitability. You want to be patient when taking profits… and not simply take ten or fifteen pips because it shows a net gain and your last series of trades were losers.
Who Is The Boss?
Do you have a job right now? Who do you work for? Say the name of the individual you work for aloud right now. When you wake in the morning and find yourself late for work… isn’t this person’s face and the “script” you run inside your mind the source of fear and anxiety as you speed to work in hopes to avoid hearing their lecture or disenchantment over your tardiness? You have opened yourself directly or indirectly to a fearful circumstance… because you are not in control. You are subservient to this “Boss”.
The parameters you work within are determined and enforced by this “Boss”. Now occasionally you will do things or say things when you feel you are outside the view and awareness of this “Boss”. You want to do the things you know would displease your Boss… but yet, you still do them. You sneak on to the Internet and read Babypips.com or peek at the Forex Charts… knowing if the Boss found out… you’d be in trouble.
Your actions at work are directed by the fear of the consequences administered by the Boss. No matter what your need is for money… you can’t rush payday. You can do your daily responsibilities early and stay over and work longer… but payday doesn’t come any sooner. You have submitted to time at your job. Think about that for a moment.
You have adopted the mindset you are in a process of Trade. You Trade your time for money. You exchange this time for money with your “Boss”. Your emotions are influenced by the pleasure or displeasure of your “Boss”. If you know you have done what is expected of you… the “Boss” is going to be pleased or at the very least… not lean on you or administer some form of consequence.
Now contrast this with your career, developing or established, in Trading. Who is the “Boss”? Who do you report to and work under the control of? It is none other than you… yourself. You call the shots in the world of trading your accounts. You set your schedule, you set your risk, you set your Trades up, you reap the rewards and you have to hold “you” responsible.
Hurry Up & Wait
If you oversleep and miss the setup for a trade… do you feel anxious? Are you getting into your car to race to the trading platform in hopes of not upsetting the “Boss”? If so… why? You are the one in control and there is no need to fear the Boss. You should be responsible and patient and simply allow the work day to pass you by… take a holiday.
How many accidents occur in rush hour traffic due to folks fearing their Boss? Think about this as an example. The rate of speed increases when you are late for work. Speed kills and the thoughts whirling inside your mind isn’t on the risks of your driving recklessly. No, it’s on the “What if” scenarios’ you are looping through in anticipation of being fired, reprimanded or similarly by your Boss!
Now imagine yourself in that car, rushing to work. You are screaming at the driver in front of you to go… and Go Now! When the driver can’t go any further or faster because he or she has a hundred other drivers sitting in front of them trying to do the very same things… get to work… quickly! Your emotions are so charged that your responses are linked to what you’re only able to see in your car windshield. This is like intraday five and one minute charts.
If you had a higher view, say from the Traffic Reporter in the Helicopter… your perspective would be different. You wouldn’t be cursing the drivers in front of you for falling asleep at the wheel, when in fact it is a woman with a flat tire a half a mile ahead of you. This is a higher timeframe Resistance. Just because you get into your car and wish to be at work to collect money in exchange for time… doesn’t mean the ride will be smooth or always to your expectations. You have to submit to time. No matter how angry, anxious or fearful you become behind the wheel… you can’t make it go faster and you can’t make it move on the charts.
The pattern you trade is a route to work. It might be a smooth ride in and then again it might bring with it an accident. Your Risk controls are speed reduction, being mindful of the big picture down the road, wear your seatbelt and if all fails be thankful you carry auto insurance. In trading these same ideas are be patient and slow down when trying to make money, use higher timeframe analysis to give you routes, use stop loss orders always and if you lose on a trade rely on your Risk and Equity Management program.
You are in the driver’s seat folks. You can enjoy the ride to success or you can make it a bumpy journey. The emotions you experience are controlled by you and your thoughts. If fear is still a factor in your trading… reduce the leverage. I assure you, it is rooted in the pursuit of money. Reduce the exposure and your clarity and objectivity will replace the fears you have now. Getting to work is a process. Trading consistently is a process as well. Submit to it and wait for payday… you can’t rush it folks!
GLGT :57:
::Next Month- Here’s My Card::
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) Thanks for that friendly nudge, i’ll keep those issues in check
