Thanks @badpandafx. Your words are very kind and helpful. This is not a regular problem and I am trying to be more organised with respect to this. I keep analyzing my trades both bad and good ones and dissect them to see what is working and what is not. So in this way I keep coming up with better plans to tackle tricky situations. I read what you said to @Luke_Ronchi . I am certainly going to incorporate some kind of physical activity into my schedule. Thanks for your advice. And I’ll surely keep you posted on my progress.
Thank you very much mate for your kind words! Actually, I have my personal plan & I am very much dedicated to it. But, thanks again.
Yes, it’s very much helpful; even I do physical activity & meditation- reunite wise.
Wow! Reading through that post was very enlightening!
Sometimes I do feel that I’m simply repressing the negative feelings instead of really releasing them.
Thank you so much for this @badpandafx! It makes so much sense, now that I think about it. Instead of feeling disappointed and feeling sorry for myself, I could just do something I love to release the stress of a losing trade!
I wonder why you call yourself badpanda when you’re really a super good one!
Hahaha.
Hi @CarlosF_1504! Great to hear you’re continuing to learn! Looking through other posts I think some of what I’ve wrote might help @Big_Boss understand whats happening when he’s spooked out of a trade too.
Let’s talk a little about your comments on insecurity and anxiety. Where do they come from? Why is it they seem to pop up when we face a situation of uncertainty or when we are asked to deliver something where part of it is out of our control?
First think about performance anxiety/insecurity in athletes. Fully capable individuals with all the talent to execute. Yet they worry about if they can go out and get the job done. Why? They fear failure. They fear what people might say about them. They fear the fact that they might actually achieve their dreams. Sounds crazy doesn’t it? Yet we we fear any number of things that imply change, especially when that change is out of our control.
So if we accept that the the root of anxiety/insecurity is fear what can we do about it? Unfortunately this isn’t a “go do X Y” type situation. Ever seen one of those sports movies where the star is worried before the big game and the coach says something like “you have to go find the answer in your heart”. Well its the same here.
Your fear comes from a deeper fear that exists within you. Only you know what that is. So only you can spend time and come to terms with it. Two others on this thread have already mentioned meditation as a technique they use as part of their plan. Its not a coincidence, they’re working hard to understand themselves, listen to their heart, and root out the fear of uncertainty.
Whatever your fear, the anxiety/insecurity comes from projecting your current state of being onto a reality that only exists in your mind. What does that mean? It means that when fear is present we allow the mind to connect a present reality (market ticked against me) to a future reality associated with pain/pleasure/want/desire (I’m losing money!). We play out this false reality in our mind, consciously or sub-consciously. Once there is fear, and an association between what is now, and what could be, our body/mind start to perceive this future reality as if it were already true. When that “what could be” is a seemingly randomly changing number that you have little control over and that you have invested hopes, dreams, money, self-worth into that fear is going to transform rapidly into anxiety and insecurity. So the underlying fear has generated physical responses in the form of anxiety, insecurity, or whatever other manifestation.
So all of this is to help understand where it comes from. What to do about it is to understand why you got into trading in the first place. What brought you here to learning this craft? Write in a journal or mentally reflect but do so to understand your own feelings on the topic. You’ll have to be deadly honest. I got in to take more control over my investments. I was greedy, and frankly I feared not having enough (a silly belief, but true).
Once admitted I could calm down substantially when looking at the market, and act with detachment. Then you can develop all the plans, strategies, and tactics to arrive at high performance. Anything else I could tell you is a coping strategy, an effort to control underlying feelings that will ultimately break free.
I hope you find some use in my words, and that it helps you in your own way. Would happily talk more about it with you if you’d like
wow you have explained it so beautifully. That is what I like about such forums. People are so helpful and give really nice advice. Btw what you said about mediation and trading journal really hit home
I do yes. I plan TP and SL.
Love the way you put this! Getting carried away/obsessed with pip haul numbers is showing off with trick shots then losing under pressure on a routine shot. This game is 100% consistency.
No better way to do it! Keep it up and you’ll not only have a trade plan for every situation but a psychological one also! Good luck!
Hey @jessoprules quick question, how’s your W/L? Because depending on your consistency I’d take a different look at the situation.
If you are consistently finding trades going in your direction and then feeling the urge to close, I would ask myself if taking profits when you see them really a problem. Or is there an opportunity here I am missing?
What I mean is you could be turning an emotional urge into a problem because of “what you should do”. Beating yourself of over an expectation you yourself create. Whereas it might be totally reasonable to readjust your W/L and RR dynamically based on your trade log. Sometimes you’ll catch a runner, most times you’ll take small profits, sometimes you’ll lose (and hopefully closing before hitting stop).
You have no idea yet, the author of this thread has his heart in the right place but apparently doesn’t have the time to track all. Once one learns a bit about trading then the wall hits, it is psychological. I come from a christian-judeo background, losing is not acceptable. In forex you have to learn to be the best loser you know. So many of them that have to be knocked down one by one as you recognize them on your way to consistent profitability.
After one gets the hang of trading whats next? It is trading consistently and profitability. Frankly anyone can make 10 pips per day, just make them and stop trading. I mean it’s just two or three trades in the same direction as the candle/PA. Then stop.
Tell me if you make 10 pips at a .01 lot or a 100 trades at .001 lot which is more profitable?
My point is be consistent and comfortable with your trading then the sizing brings the compounded results.
Thank you for the reply, badpanda
I think you’re right about the inner fear aspect that isn’t fully understood. I’m going to commit to meditation more and try to learn about what’s making me tick. I think this is an aspect of myself that I’ve overlooked for far too long, and something that’s caused me far too much trouble
Each trader is unique. Thereby, what is a barrier for me, may not be the same for others. however, my greatest psychological barrier is fear of losing money. Though I know that losses are common and I have to deal with it, sometimes I can’t help myself to get rid of this fear.
This fear is with us until we are trading. Trader with no fear can be over confident or greedy. Psychologically fear and aggression impact on your trading I must say aggression is more dangerous when you loose . Because you can loose more if not do planned trading to overcome your loss.
My greatest weakness is having a hard time cutting losses short. To take a loss in general.
I set a stop loss (real or mental) but when the market goes against me I tend to remove it and let the trade breathe even when it is illogical (the market is strongly moving in the opposite direction which is also the trend direction).
I know that cutting the loss will make me earn more in the long term and will also give me the opportunities to take better trades and better entries. But still…
I have been doing fine last 2 weeks since I am back in trading (demo for now) and I plan to raise the stacks gradually. If I will fail I will step back and trade a micro or a demo account. If I will be doing fine I will increase my equity as I go or as I have the opportunity.
However, I feel that the one above is a real big problem of mine. This is what made me blow 2 accounts in the past and I feel like it could happen again. It could happen a margin call or a huge downdraw. I need to address this if I want to be a long-term successful mature trader that doesn’t make at risk his equity and the future of his family.
Also there is the greed. A part of me is telling me: “No, well, we know how to trade and how to win, we need to go big as soon as possible we need to make real money.”
This sounds like a receipt for disaster if we considering my problem with cutting losses!
A part of it is surely related with the need to be right (not accepting the losses) but also with the need to control everything. Which I can’t with the market.
I must accept I am not in full control, I am not the most powerful one, I can’t be right all the times.
I must look for opportunities. Surf the market waves when I see them in time. Stay on the beach waiting for the right conditions most of the time. Stop surfing when I am not in alignment with the market price action.
Stop fighting the market. Following the market price action instead. And cut the losses short when I am wrong.
It is so simple but also so hard.
I could maybe set SL and TP and close the chart after I place my trade. But I am a discretionary trader which like to daytrade. So I like to watch the price action while happening to have a better feeling for the market.
So this solution doesn’t really suit me.
Any other suggestion/advice/idea?
I m struggling to get a demos that are relevant to what I want to trade,esp binary trading…and it frustrates me coz I can’t trade the real account…
My psychological challages is when my trading is going well and suddenly turn against me when an unwanted/bad or even unexpected news occure at a time.
What frustates me is trading the major news releases. For example… you have a news event that is very positive for a particular currency yet the price goes in the other way. Usually the price goes in the direction that you would assume due to the data release and has in the past. However, it seems whenever I am there ready to place a trade it goes in the other direction and stops out the trades that I have placed. Super annoying
The news are tricky.
This is what I do/suggest:
Close your trades before the main news.
Then wait for the movement and fade it. Especially if it doesn’t make much sense and it goes against the trend.
If the news is something big that change the current situation or strengthen the trend, wait for a retracement and jump on board.