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Showing results for tags 'disciplined trading'.
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You've done your homework. Countless hours of seeking out the right guru (or piecing together your own system). Weeks of monitoring your guru's daily trade picks (or paper-trading and back-testing your homemade system). You've done it by the book. No seat of the pants trading for you! OK, now you're confident. It's time to put your money where your homework is. You've had your coffee and your first trade signal is before you. Confidence high. Trade made. First loss. Not a problem. You understood before you started that successful traders both win and lose and “losing is part of the overall winning”. You've also heard more then once that “successful traders don't win on every trade.” Moving on, still confident. Next trade made. Another loss, but this one hurt your pride a little because you got stopped out early in the trade, and then the market rebounded and would have hit your profit target if you weren't stopped out. You double check. Yep, you placed the stop where your trading system told you to place it. You kind of had a feeling that the early weakness in the market was just profit-taking from the previous day's trading, but you're trading a system and you must stick to it. Wounded, but resilient. After a good night's sleep and a few mouse clicks, your new daily trades are in front of you. Hey, this one looks good! It's a little bit more risk than yesterday's trades had, but look at that profit potential! With a smiling face, the trade is executed. With a nice start to the trade, you're feeling good and you've moved your stop to breakeven, just like your system said. Surprise piece of news - market reverses - blows through your stop - an “unexpected” loss. Is something wrong with the system? Has the overall market “personality” changed, affecting your system to the Core, rendering all your back-testing irrelevant? Your confidence turns to doubt. You decide to “watch” the next trade… I mean, isn't it wise to make sure the system gets back on track before you “throw good money after bad?” Isn't that what a conservative trader does? Trade watched. It wins! In your head, you beat yourself up a little because you know that when you started your “live” trading, you made an agreement with yourself to take the first 10 trades “no matter what”… and here you wimped-out and missed a big winner that would have gotten you even. What's happening?!! What's happening is that you are out of control. Your emotions are ruling your trading. The above scenario plays out in every trader from time to time.. newbee and veteran alike. The winning trader senses what is happening and nips it in the bud. The winning trader spend time EVERY DAY, working on “the discipline of trading”. Reads a chapter in his favorite psychological trading book, scans the “ten commandments of trading” that hangs on the wall over his/her desk, listens to his/her mental training software for futures traders… Something… Every Day… before trading begins. There are many more losing traders than winning traders… and it's seldom about the trading system. In my career, I've come across at least 50 systems that I consider A+, yet I know for a fact that MOST traders that have traded on these systems have lost. Why? They were not in control of their emotions. Are you? My best, Norman Hallett
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You read about the Gurus of trading. There’s a group of them that started with their last few dollars and ran it up to millions because of a simple strategy they can teach you. There’s another group of Gurus that claim hard work, long study and signing up for their newsletter will lead you to where you want to go. All Gurus want you to “learn from their mistakes.” They ask, “Why should you make all the mistakes I’ve made, when you can benefit from my experiences?” Now being somewhat of a Guru myself, I think there IS a certain truth to this query, but not the way you probably think. Other trader’s experiences can make you aware of what to expect as you embark upon your trading. Knowing what to expect should translate into having less “blindside” occurrences. However, when you come across the forewarned learning experience, emotions will come up. These emotional situations (fear, overconfidence, freezing) are up to YOU to handle. Here, if you’re going to be a successful trader, is where the learning takes place… in dealing with your emotions so that you can follow your trading plan. If you blow the situation, your supposed learn from it and go on. And learn from it, you must... or even the best trading system won’t save you from doom. Your Mental Toughness is going to be the key to whether you make it or break it as a trader. I know of two MAJOR things that you can do to develop your Mental Toughness for trading. The first is to keep a journal. I know that sounds like work, and who wants more paperwork at the end of the trading day? However, soon after you force yourself to start writing down your day’s trading experiences; you will see the power of the technique. It becomes the place where you will be honest with yourself. You’ll find after just a week or so of keeping a journal of your trading experiences, mistakes and all… especially mistakes… that when you are confronted with a trading situation that you blew before… in the back of your head you’ll know that if you do the same stupid thing again you’re going to have to report it to yourself…in your journal and… THAT will give you the strength to “do the right thing.” That’s the power of keeping a journal. Whether you just buy a spiral notebook (like I do) and start writing, or you make it a religious experience and buy something leather-bound… You will find that the discipline of keeping a journal, is a practice that will flat-out make you a better trader. The other way to get Mentally Tough is to train your mind with as much intention as exhibit when you test and run your trading system. There are a few psychologists I’ve bumped into over the years that seem to have enough of a handle on what training is … so they may be qualified to help a trader. But I prefer the process of literally programming the mind for discipline and focus, via putting the mind in an alpha brainwave state and then submitting the right suggestions to it. If you were to learn the simple rudiments of self-hypnosis, that, in my opinion, would be a great way to go. This way you could tell yourself exactly what you wanted! This is what Tiger Woods does for his golf game. Why not do something similar with your trading? Mental Toughness is my business. Make it part of yours. Keep a journal. Feed your mind. BIO: Norman Hallett is the co-founder and CEO of Subconscious Training Corporation (STC), headquartered in Parkland, Florida. STC develops state-of-the-art mental training programs, including The Disciplined Trader Intensive Program. Over his career, Mr. Hallett has developed numerous successful startup companies, including the investment firm of Hallett Commodities, Inc., and the Introducing Broker operation, NCH Commodities, Inc. Mr. Hallett holds a BA in Mathematics from the University of Cincinnati. His fascination with the investment industry lead him to grow several firms in his 21 year career in the financial arena. His high-profile style resulted in him being a frequent guest of the Financial News Network and culminated in his popular radio talk show, "Risky Business", which had a strong 5 year run.
