Teacher

Awareness, Negative Habits and Concentration in Trading
Posted on Jan 8, 2012 in Forex Strategies | 12 comments
The markets are our testing ground, and trading is the vehicle through which can clearly see the results of our work, our discipline (or lack thereof) and our concentration.  It is through these two (the markets and trading) we have the live opportunity to see habitual patterns thateither help us move forward, or hold us back from achieving our goals and trading profitably day in day out.
Because this process is so informative, the fertile experience is rich with information about whether our compass is on the right course, or pointing south when we want to go north.  Whether we avail ourselves of this information and mine it like a precious resource is up to nobody butyou.  As traders, we have to constantly be on the prowl, and asking questions at key moments, such as;
-How did we react mentally or emotionally when we experienced a series of losses?
-The same has to be asked when we have a long run of winners or bump into our Equity Threshold?
-What happens after we’ve been unprofitable for so long, that after trying a new system, we start to make some solidgains?
-How do we react when being told or asked to fill in the trading journal?
-Do we use proper money-management, or do we step outside the mathematics and do what we ‘feel’ like?
-What happens when we encounter a ‘big’ loss?
-What do we do to prepare for the trading day?
-How do we train and learn from our experiences?
All of these questions and experiences are beacons in the fog ofconfusion as to where we are in our process.  They are part of a feedback loop we are either aware of or not.

One of the most common responses to;
a) why we do not prepare for our trading day
b) why we did not take the trade that met all our rules
c) why we took a big loss
d) why we do not fill out our trading journal
or
e) why we did not use proper money-management comes in the form ofexcuses.
It does not matter if you are strongly motivated to become a profitable trader.  To want to be successful as a trader, to make loads of money, to work from home is not enough.   That is just desire and you following a puppet master.
What happens during the small moments where you make excuses (perhaps for the situations mentioned above) is what will define your path and trading experience. This is why it is critical to be aware of the moments when you do make excuses, so you can change course immediately.
Excuses are essentially negative habits that start off as an undertow, and eventually become the current if left unchecked or not dealt with.  They start off as whispers, but without applying awareness and action to them, eventually become equal to your driving thoughts in criticalmoments of your trading.
Perhaps you have said the following to yourself in certain moments of your trading day;
“I don’t want to fill out my trading journal right now, i’m busy trading”
“I’ll use proper money-management later, this is a cherry of a trade here”
“This trade meets all my rules, but i’m not certain about it so i’ll wait for the next one”
“I don’t need to prepare mentally andphysically for trading, a cup of coffee will get me going”
“I don’t have to review my trading performance, my balance will tell me if I am trading well or improperly”
Convincing yourself to put things off is to lose the opportunity to move forward by falling victim to excuses. It will seduce you into an un-empowered trading experience.
Perhaps you think of ‘discipline‘ as something negative, likebeing disciplined by some 5th grade teacher you hated.  Having negative views to being disciplined in your life merely bonds your ideas and energy around discipline to this negative view. It saps you of your ability to break through the obstacles to your trading growth and success while climbing the Pyramid of Trading. It hides your best qualities and that which would take your trading to the...