Are You “Missing the Forest for the Trees”?

[lrushing]

So you’ve developed and applied your well-thought-out risk and money management strategies. You’ve created a healthy work environment in which to study and perform your trades. You have a daily schedule to review and execute your trades. You are extremely focused and disciplined and study the market’s price movements all day looking for, let’s say, bullish or bearish engulfing signals for the perfect set ups. Sometimes you see them, but more often than not, you don’t.

So why is that? How can you possibly be missing the signals when, as far as you can tell, you are doing everything right? One reason might be because you are literally too close to the screen. You are “missing the forest for the trees”, so to speak. Thinking and taking actions strategically is nearly impossible if you don’t allow yourself to see the whole picture. Back up a little; take in the entire “picture”. You may actually see more of those signals if you make an effort not to get pulled into the minutia of just a few of the candlesticks on your screen.