Monday, October 8, 2012

Day's Anatomy- 08th October 2012 (Pt 1)

I'm publishing this half-way through my trading day as it represents a milestone in my personal trading. One which may apply to others whether they are aware of it happening or not.

It goes something like this:

Trade 1- loss. Internal dialogue: "good trade- move on"

Trade 2 & 3- Break even. Internal dialogue: "after resisting the urge to take a strong setup out of context AND taking the other side of the market (the correct side) you STILL have nothing to show for it! I'm getting a little frustrated..."

Trade 4-loss. Internal dialogue: "So, after following my proven plan, I'm one stop away from having to stop for the day. The day has only just begun!"

....Before Trade 5...

"Here's a setup. But I've only just lost (Recency Bias) and it was right here (Spatial Bias). What if I get stopped trading in the opposite direction of the last trade I took? (again recency and spatial biases)...

....what if I hit the day's stop?"

As you can see, I took the trade for 19.2 pips. But the fact that it's a big winner, while nice, isn't the point. It's staying with "process-oriented thought processes" rather than "outcome-oriented thought processes" Being aware of the way we all think (see the above bias links) and steering myself toward the process is probably the single most important change I've made/ am making in my trading.

Focusing on what you're trying to avoid is like a cyclist who looks at the people he's navigating around rather than the place he wants to get to. You just end up flat on your face!

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