[TinGull]

I think self sabotage is all about not having the confidence in yourself and/or your plan. I went through this for months and have been doing quite well overcoming most of it lately. How did I? I realized that my plan had 4 or so setups that weren't performing, and those were the ones that I was taking most often. Interesting, eh?

So, I cut those out of my plan and I've got 2 setups that perform very well, and I take those 2 90% of the time. They are trending setups as I'm not a good rangebound trader at this point in time, but something I'm definitely working on. Also, I've learned to identify when the highest odds trades are happening (for the most part) and that has helped tremendously with my confidence in myself as well as my system.

Self sabotage happens when there is a lack of trust. To get over that, you need to keep things very simple. Look at your trading plan, take the setups that underperform and cut them out. Concentrate on the setup(s) that have made you the most money and crank the hell out of 'em. Why not, right?

For mental exercises...I wake up every morning and tell myself what a great day it is to be able to be fortunate enough to not have a stupid boss looming over my desk. To have the ability to take control of my own life and be completely responsible for whatever happens to it. Knowing I've got complete control of my life lets me have complete control of ALL aspects of my life, which 60% of that is trading.

"another great day to be a trader!" is what I tell myself. That puts a smile on my face and I'm ready to take on whatever happens. If I get into a trade that doesnt work out...well, I just say "that's tradin'" ala Hubert. And I go downstairs, play with the dogs and come back up a few minutes later with a fresh head.

Do I still get frustrated? Absolutely! When I dont get into a trade because either it misses my limit order by a tick or 2 or I was eating lunch or whatever the case may be....I get frustrated. It's my need for participating, which I'm trying to kick the habit of.

Leroy (tradingeveryday) told me the other day in one of my coaching sessions that I, as well as ALL other traders) miss thousands of trades every single day. Millions of opportunities are happening any given moment across the spectrum of the financial markets. Do I get ripped up cause I miss all of those trades? "No, Leroy, I dont." Then why get upset missing 1 or 2? The market's gonna open up at 9:30am on the next trading day. It's always going to be there. That is what I call job security. Now...the self sabotage thing could put that security in jeopardy, but having some simple tools (your trading plan (and the confidence in that plan), the right mental attitude and the love of this game) will keep you from doing harm to your account.

So..to put it simply, I guess...my day starts like this.

•Wake up
•Say to myself "What a fabulous day to be a trader!"
•Eat breakfast
•Take a look at the markets and read some stories to help get me in that frame of mind
•Trade
•Eat lunch
•Maybe trade the afternoon
•Shut down my computer at 4pm
•Go on a walk, watch a movie, cook...most likely cook or bake something...
•Sleep

That's basically how I live every weekday. I used to spend 18 hours a day on the markets, now...I spend about an hour a day in a "study" mode and 7 hours finding a place to participate in the markets. After that, my head is cleared of the markets and I don't speak about them to anyone (except in here on occasion). Doing that GREATLY improved my clarity and balance to be prepared for the next day. It's weird...it's like the less I study now, the more I know. The more I used to study, the more I got confused.

Hope my rambling helped a little...