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Early in my trading career on of the most difficult skills for me to master was to actually enjoy what I was trading. I was a “white knuckle”trader, and I fretted and worried about every trade after I entered the trade. I suppose I lacked the self-confidence in the system I used enough that I just could not wait to get out of the trade with a profit. Trading wasn’t always an enjoyable experience. And it should be.
So what was the problem?
I hadn’t learn to relax and depend on the solid trading foundations I knew and understood. I was trading with real money and the thought of losing money terrified me. Further, I often traded too many contracts for the account size I owned, so the thought of losing a trade could have catastrophic consequences. I didn’t understand money management, and I traded with a fearful mind set. A fearful trading mind set is no conducive to effective trading.
How in the world do you address a fearful mind set?
It wasn’t hard to change my mind set, but it took some time. First and foremost, I had to learn not to try to become a millionaire on one single trade. Instead of trading ten contracts, I learned to trade one or two contracts. I was very comfortable with one or two contracts, and learned that you can make excellent money trading a lower number ES Emini contracts. The world doesn’t begin or end with each trade you make, but a consistent track record of trades that end up with a profit can increase your trading account substantially.
Each trade did not have to be a make or break trade, and I learned to trade less contracts successfully. In other words, in order to win the war, you need only win the battles, and most wars are not won in a single battle.
I don’t generally sit and stare at my trading screen. I have my stops and limits set to protect me. This is not to say that I don’t pay close attention to my trades, only that I don’t obsess over every tick in the market. Normal market noise takes you into profit and loss positions until you get the breakout or breakdown you were expecting. They come, if you are using you indicators and read the price action correctly. But the market moves at it’s own pace, not mine, and I have no control over how the market moves. I just have to wait for the time my indicators have given me a high probability situation for a move.
I play music now, too. Sometimes I like rock n roll, sometimes classical…I play the music that fits my mood. Several webmasters have suggested all sorts of Tantric Zen techniques for trading, and I do not doubt that these techniques are possible, but they certainly are not for me…there is nothing Tantric Zen-like in my personality.
Surprisingly enough, my trading improved immeasurably when I learned to relax and trade, and I don’t have a specific cause for the relaxation other than implementing proper money management techniques, ones that I was comfortable with trading. You are not going to hit every trade with a profit, and that is okay. The goal is to hit most trades profitably. And therein lies the secret, relaxing while you trade is the stuff of being comfortable with trade set up, money management and the environment you are trading.
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