Trading in the Zone - How do I get there?

Trading Discussion
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From my trading blog:

I screwed up today. I had a good compression signal on the GBPCAD, and I had the price bracketed. But then I went with the GBPUSD instead at the last minute, canceling my GBPCAD order.

I told myself that I was taking the less than ideal setup because of the lower spread, but the truth is that I was just impatient, and the GBPUSD was moving more swiftly in what I thought would be the direction of the breakout.

Needless to say, the price reversed and I lost money on the GBPUSD, while my GBPCAD position would have been a win.

I knew the rules. I saw the setup. And I ignored it all. The justifications don’t really matter; this was ultimately a failure of discipline. This was a personal failure, not a system failure.

People write about the need for discipline in trading, but you don’t really understand it until you are there, in the moment. It’s not even really about greed, or fear. It’s about the desire for closure. To have it done. If you are going to be in, you want to be in now. It’s the waiting that gets you.

I need to be stronger. This is not about me, or what I feel. This is about building something better for the people that I love, the people that depend on me. I need to be utterly ruthless with myself when making these trades.

“If you can wait and not be tired by waiting… Yours is the world, and everything that’s in it”

My blog is set to private; it’s a learning journal for me and not for public consumption. But this morning was a rough morning for the reasons I set out. I feel like I’m at this place where my system is mostly working, and the failures I experience are personal ones. I need to fix that.

So I went out and I bought Trading in the Zone. It seems to be the most highly recommended book on Trading Psychology, and I can see why. But damn, reading it hurts. I can’t get through more than a few pages at a time before I need to put it down. Too. Much. Truth.

We all start by looking for a system that works, and it feels like half the posts on this forum are asking ‘that question’ while the other half are trying to sell answers. But I feel like I’m on a slightly different part of the journey. Anyone have any advice on getting to the other side of this?

1 Like
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I could use some advice as well. I’m still a newbie and am currently demo trading, but even on a demo I will still be unsure about the strategy I use at the time. I did look up the book you mentioned and found a PDF version of it. Here’s the link for it: http://files.meetup.com/1777129/Trading_in_the_Zone%20Mark%20Douglas.pdf
I’ll definitely give it a read!

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Hey Dre, and jus, why does it hurt?

The Ever Teaching VIPER

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You mean the book? Because it says some things about me that I know are true and that I don’t like.

Turns out I need my tough love in small doses.

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OK what is it telling you?

The Ever Viper Couch VIPER

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Trading teaches as much or more about oneself as it does the market.

1 Like
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Egad, yess, times a thousand.

The Continuing To Learn VIPER

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Lol. I felt like I started this thread by over-sharing, and I worry that it’s going to get worse. But in for a penny, in for a pound I suppose.

To take one example:

…or hope that the market will save you from your inability to cut your losses.

Douglas, Mark. Trading in the Zone: Master the Market with Confidence, Discipline, and a Winning Attitude (p. 15). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

This is me. I mean, I’m really good at rationalizing why I’m not pulling the plug on a trade that I know is going bad, but at the end of the day, it’s just that: rationalization. The truth is that admitting that I was wrong (by terminating the trade at a loss) hurts more than the additional loss I’ll suffer by letting the price hit my stop. But when I saw that particular behavior flagged up in the book I knew that it described me, and I don’t like the implications of that. That’s not who I want to be.

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Hey Viper. Well, I need to read it the book first to see what @Drekieyja is talking about. But, I can totally agree with him when he says that it reveals a lot of truth, and yes some of those truths can be hard to accept, but that’s how we all learn from our mistakes. It will only help make you a better trader. Just don’t get discouraged about anything you do.Sometimes we f*** up lol but all you can do is learn what you did wrong, move past it and try to avoid doing it again

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That my friend is the Key. admit we were wrong, and make the change. What happens at times is that there are deeper issues involved in how we handle losses, as Dr. Elder puts it, Mommie and Daddy issues, if these issues exist, being a success at this business can be even more difficult. Frankly, out of all the books, Dr. Elders are the ones that have helped me the most. Anyway facing the truth is hard sometimes, we all do well to remember the market can be a reflection of ourselves, and there are times we cannot or will not face ourselves.

The Ever Wax On Wax Off VIPER

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How long have you been trading

The Ever Rational VIPER

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Is there a particular book of his that you would recommend starting with?

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Dr. Elders Trading For A Living. I hated the first edition, so you can start with this, and then read the new one. I hated it because it showed me there was something wrong with me, and it was not the Markets.

The Ever Adapting VIPER

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Well the markets move any way it wants really. It doesn’t have a mind of its own, it moves based on the actions the banks & us take. So ultimately yea, it’s us LOL

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As a newbie trader I can’t give you much suggestions. Because I have started demo trading for only 2 months. I have just learned the very basic things here. I am still struggling with my strategies. I thing I am not smart enough to working with any strategy right now. So, I am also following your thread. If there anything could help me to move forward. And definitely Baby Pips is the best option for learning.

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sorry to disappoint you but maybe you started to think you have find out alot , but no these books not going to help you anything and when i say anything means exactly nothing 0
you have no clue how to make huuge

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lol keep it moving my man

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I’ve finished Trading in the Zone, and I’ve just started The New Trading for a Living. It seems like an excellent recommendation so far. Thank you.