[Bfbusa]

Self Sabotage

What is it and how to stop it.

Can anyone elaborate on why we do it and do you have any mental exercises
to deprogram it? ( or know any websites or mentors that help with this?)

[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...

Originally Posted by TinGull »

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.

Wow. Truer words were never spoken. It's almost Zen-like actually.

Most traders need to overcome the paralysis of analysis and just keep doing what works for them, and stop doing what doesn't.

Unless you're as good as Tiger Woods, and have some innate natural talent to fall back upon, you really don't need to overhaul and retool your swing every other year, so to speak, except, of course, if it isn't working for you at all.

[TinGull]

That's why I trade the Tao...errr, Dow....

[Bfbusa]

That was an EXCELLENT post Tingull! I appreciate your input.

I have realized something about trading. Not only do you learn the setups, the markets , patterns, tape etc. You also learn about your self. Your strength, your weaknesses, hopes and fears. I've learned what kind of person I am. A trader once said if you want to get an idea of what kind of trader your going to be,a disciplined one or not, take a look at yourself in your daily life. It may show up in your trading.

The biggest obstacle to success is your-self, at least in my case. I feel SO close to crossing the Rubicon. Just a few steps away to becoming consistently profitable I have the setups, I have the trading plan and risk management in place. I've even identified my impulse trades and eliminated them. The discipline fades in and out but I am getting better. But I still manage to take the losing trades and always seem to " miss out" on the trades that would have been winners. I am also still a victim of my own fears. After a wining trade or 2 losing trades in a row I get fearful and often let a winner go buy.

If you know anybody who wants to learn about them self, tell them to try trading because when you do you will be face to face with yourself.

[TinGull]

Hey Bill,

Thanks. Hoped that was helpful. As for getting the impulse trades out of the way, great job on that. Thats a tough thing for some traders to realize they are doing and do away with them. If you've got risk management in place, then you shouldn't need to think on the risk side so much as the profit side. You need to start identifying the highest odds trades, and for that, I'd definitely check in with Leroy. He's been the single thing that's really put me on track. And...no offense to the chatroom here...but you should try to stop going. I found that when I was alone with my trading and not being influenced by what others were doing, I have been doing huge amounts better. Try it out, and if you find yourself doing better, than you now have eliminated one of the issues.

Just curious, what type of Zen-like moment have you had when trading? When did the lightbulb finally go on, and what was it that triggered the "ah-ha" moment for you?

Originally Posted by Bfbusa »

A trader once said if you want to get an idea of what kind of trader your going to be,a disciplined one or not, take a look at yourself in your daily life. It may show up in your trading.

CORRECTION: It WILL show up in your trading for certain. Your true inner self will be revealed, with all its flaws and imperfections when your money is on the line, every day, every trade.

If you're still in the stage of "papertrading" on the electronic demo, you won't have a clue until you put your money where your mouth is.

Too many newbies think it's so easy when their demo trades show a positive expectancy; real world trading just ain't so easy - and they find out the hard way.

Getting control of your emotions is the key to trading successfully, followed by money management, and a positive real-world expectancy on your trade setups. All the winning trades in the world won't help you if you don't have a handle on how to properly manage your trades via proper position sizing. Overleveraging, and overtrading is symptomatic of letting your fear and greed get the best of you - only your best winning setups should be taken, and only in accordance with your trading plan.

Simply put, plan your trade, and trade your plan.

[Bfbusa]

Tingull,

We think alike. As much as I like being in the chat room, it has distracted me from trading and has caused me to miss a few trades. Thats why I wasn't there yesterday. I just wanted to concentrate on trading. What I will do for now on is trade first and then enter the room during a quiet period.