Special Edition for Traders !
Many traders have the hope and dream of day trading for a living. That is a very worthy goal and represents an opportunity for being your own boss as well as being free from a 9 to 5 type job. With the economy the way it is, living this dream is something that is sought after by many and for good reason.
Having the vision is always the start, executing the vision is another story. Everyone starting out, always has the highest of expectations and why not. No one would want to go into a new venture thinking that they are going to fail, it is normal to hope for the best.
What happens next is often the unseen struggles that traders face. Most all, traders have some knowledge of how to put on a buy or sell order, place a stop and a target, move there stop up to lock in profit, etc. But being a successful trader, long term has a lot more to it than what first meets the eye. As the struggles begin for many traders, they can start to feel angry, frustrated, anxious, confused and at times depressed. Many sense a loss of control over there trading and it is this loss of control that can leave the would be trader feeling powerless.
Lets see if we can help. Most day traders, set out with very high expectations about becoming rich. These thoughts can at times cloud the vision of what it is really going to take to bring it all together. To begin the process of turning things around, “Set smaller achievable goals” for yourself. If you were to go back and check your account to see where it was that you went wrong, many times it is going to be a few bad days that really set you back and put you under water. If you could remove those really bad days and at worst replace them with only minor losses, that right there could make all the difference.
If you notice that you are making repetitively the same mistakes, DON’T DO THAT. It sounds like a no brainier, but you would be surprised by how many people do just that, or maybe you won’t. I am not throwing stones. I have made all the mistakes there are to make while trading, so I can speak from experience. Not exactly the kind of experience we like to talk about, but that is apart of learning. Take the struggles and mistakes, especially the ones that are repeated several times and put a stop to it. Find a way to overcome it. It may mean you need to take a small break and pull things together before re-entering the arena.
Never increase your trading size to try and make up for previous losses. That is pretty important, but it is done all the time. If you are not trading well, what would make you think that trading larger size is going to make you trade better. If you are not trading well, you have two choices.
1) STOP & WAIT – give yourself a cooling off period.
2) Trade smaller size until you get your rhythm back, then as you are connecting with the market, increase your size then and only then.
By increasing your size while taking losses, you are being influence by the money. You want to get back what you feel the market took from you. First of all, that is the wrong mindset and that is the reason, you are increasing your size. You are being controlled by your emotions and are making a bad judgment, which will likely hurt you even greater.
If you take additional losses, with increased size, you can soon see the snow ball effect, well, that is what I call it. Things will only escalate into bigger and greater problems. This is where you could start to feel that “Loss of Control”.
These are where those big loosing days come from. It is days like this, that can mean all the difference in the world to being profitable.
There are many good traders out there, that just need a little adjustment here and there, to turn the corner. Holding onto bad patterns produce consistent results when executed, but these are not the results we are looking for. Separate yourself from your problem and examine exactly what is missing.
It may be that you pull your stops because you don’t want to be proven wrong yet again. That loss is going to to much to bear so, you pull your stop at times. You may move it by a full S&P point or any unit of measure depending on what you are trading. Other times you leave yourself with No Stop at all, which is always a big mistake. This again is something that you did not plan to do before you entered the trade, but something that you just did. Often, you look back and wonder why did I do that in the first place. Only after all the dust settles can you see that you were not acting rational.
There is a root cause to all of these and many other trading problems that are faced day in and day out across the globe by those pursuing there dream of day trading for a living and experiencing the freedom and the lifestyle that comes with the territory. But what is it and how can I get it. There is no easy quick definite answer that fits for everyone, but I can give you a clue. It all starts in what is between your ears. “THE MIND”. The power of the mind is often overlooked in resolving traders problems. They just think that if I do this or make that change, things will be all better. It goes a little deeper than that.
A successful trader needs to have “Mind Power”. That is not some fancy new age mantra, but the reality that stands in the way for so many. The power of concentration and the ability to focus and only do those things that will produce the results you are looking for is where the base of the solution lie’s.
Take a step in the right direction, TAKE CONTROL, live and fulfill your dreams, I am here to help. Visit www.sniperdaytrading.com and request your free copy of my branded Book on “The Power of Concentration” and see what you can accomplish with your new powers.
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Tags: Day Trading for Living, loss of control, power of concentration, power of mind
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