I’ve heard it discussed to death that you need to control your emotions. Greed and fear cannot enter your trading decisions. So traders spend hundreds of hours and sometime thousands of dollars to research or buy trading plans. These plans are supposed mitigate the input of emotions into trading decisions.
Unfortunately for most traders, we’re not robots. We’re not computers that mindlessly buy and sell based on an algorithm. For a discretionary trader, like myself, the act of separating my emotions from my decisions is extremely difficult. On the one hand, I have a system that methodically evaluates potential trades and governs my entries and exits, yet I must incorporate the human brain that analyzes charts, looking for the aesthetically pleasing patterns in a stocks price and volume.
When I finally experienced some success it came through a change in focus. In the beginning I was hung up on making money. I got upset on days I had a net loss. I would rethink my strategies. I would second guess every trade I made. To make matters worse I didn’t do much in the way of research or analysis after the trading day.
When I started to see positive change was when my focus shifted to being excellent. In every trade I researched, every trade I made, and every post postmortem, I attempted to do my best. In addition, I researched new and better ways to research trades and do my analysis. I became very strict with my method and its execution. Afternoons and evening began to be consumed with analysis.
It takes enormous conviction to be good at anything. Trading is no exception. Taking the time to learn from your mistakes and actively try to improve is necessary to be successful.
