[Tevtrader]

Hello Traders,

I am new to this site, but really enjoying it. I have been trading futures for about a year and a half now. I have been fortunate enough to have a great mentor to teach me. I feel I have good setups and sound money management. My BIG problem is lack of confidence in my abilities. I know this is a killer in trading! I see my setups right in front of me...staring me in the face, then all the normal fears enter my head. (everyone here is fully aware of them) I have tried and read everything I can find on overcoming the fear of taking the trade. Yet, I still go through it everytime. I always feel like there is someone smarter and better than me on the other side of the trade. Maybe this is not a trading related issue, but I must conquer it if I am to be successful. Anyone dealt with this and have any drastic steps they took to overcome it?

Thanks for any help you can give!

[jperl]

Hi TevTrader,, welcome aboard...

You say you've been trading for 1 1/2 years. Are you making money or losing money?

a)If you are making money, keep at it...Eventually you will get more relaxed and confident in what you are doing

b)If you are losing money.. Stop trading with real dollars and switch to simulated trading with play money. Develop your plan and don't trade with real money until you are consistently profitable for 1 month. (This could take a year or more).

c)If you've been doing only sim trading and are consistently profitable for 1 month, but still not relaxed....then keep doing sim trading until you are relaxed. Trading has to be second nature.

d)If you've been doing only sim trading and are losing money, then you don't have a trading plan yet which you are confident in. Keep at it until you do have a trading plan which works for you and can get consistent profits for 1 month.

Don't do both sim trading and real trading in some kind of haphazard fashion. You'll never get relaxed that way.

[Tevtrader]

Thanks Jperl,

I am a mildly profitable trader at this point. I will lay out my typical scenario. I will go days with missing setups and trades.....both winners and losers. Then I finally get fed up enough to just pick a day and take trades no matter what. And of course those are the days I run into 2 or 3 losers in a row. Which is not a problem, except I have missed all the winners on previous days. I have a clearly defined setup and plan, it's just the lack of confidence. And you are probably right, it will take time. I'm sure there are no magic answers.

Thanks Again

[jperl]

Originally Posted by Tevtrader »

Thanks Jperl,

I am a mildly profitable trader at this point. I will lay out my typical scenario. I will go days with missing setups and trades.....both winners and losers. Then I finally get fed up enough to just pick a day and take trades no matter what. And of course those are the days I run into 2 or 3 losers in a row. Which is not a problem, except I have missed all the winners on previous days. I have a clearly defined setup and plan, it's just the lack of confidence. And you are probably right, it will take time. I'm sure there are no magic answers.

Thanks Again

Sounds to me that you are not ready for prime time. You haven't developed the discipline yet to believe in your trading plan. So I suggest you stop trading real cash and switch to simulation mode. Take every trade that comes along that is part of your trade setup and see how you do. Be honest with yourself. You don't want to be trading real dollars until you've developed that hard nosed discipline that comes with trading and are convinced that your plan works for you.

[TinGull]

Tevtrader...you just explained EXACTLY what it's like during a week of my life. To a T!

[brownsfan019]

Tev - I think at some point, we all go thru what you are going thru. I suggest that if you've PROVEN to yourself that your setups are profitable over the long haul, then you just have to do it. Sooner or later you'll have no choice as the next step is insanity. I can totally understand as this is a purely mental issue and I would suggest to make a promise to yourself for next week (assuming you KNOW you are profitable if you take everything) - start a new thread here and update it during the day (if possible) and at the end of day with how many setups you had and how many you took. Make yourself accountable to this board. Only you will know the truth, so just post the real results, good or bad. Put the numbers in front of you. No more guessing, let's do this NEXT WEEK!

My suggested format for tracking:
# OF SETUPS:
# OF SETUPS TAKEN:
% OF SETUPS TAKEN:
WHAT P&L 'SHOULD' HAVE BEEN:
ACTUAL P&L:

So, you ready to step up and beat this mental beast?

[brownsfan019]

Originally Posted by jperl »

Sounds to me that you are not ready for prime time. You haven't developed the discipline yet to believe in your trading plan. So I suggest you stop trading real cash and switch to simulation mode. Take every trade that comes along that is part of your trade setup and see how you do. Be honest with yourself. You don't want to be trading real dollars until you've developed that hard nosed discipline that comes with trading and are convinced that your plan works for you.

Only problem with that Jerry is that some people, myself included, cannot take sim trading and treat it as real. I never had much success with sim trading b/c it's too easy to not treat it as real $. If he's been trading for 1.5 years, I don't know how useful sim trading will be. Scaling back to one contract could accomplish much more, in a shorter period of time.

Originally Posted by brownsfan019 »

Only problem with that Jerry is that some people, myself included, cannot take sim trading and treat it as real. I never had much success with sim trading b/c it's too easy to not treat it as real $. If he's been trading for 1.5 years, I don't know how useful sim trading will be. Scaling back to one contract could accomplish much more, in a shorter period of time.

Why is sim trading bogus?

No money on the line - no real emotions as to the outcome of the trade, I'd suppose.

So you'll make or take any trade, whereas in a real account you probably might not take 'em all. (Although some would say you should.... )

Also the sim must be realistic and not footloose and fancy free, treating limit orders as though they were market if touched orders. I've run across quite a few of those in my time, and needless to say "hypothetical performance is not indicative of real results".