Taking breaks.

I was home alone with my laptop on the dining room table; alone, with no help, no understanding, continuing to make the same, old mistakes. It is very hard to be a trader by yourself. Working hard every day on my notes and charts was giving me nothing. I was not seeing any good come out of the work I was doing. The learning process is long, they said – no kidding. No one but another trader could understand that I kept hearing the same things so many times, but nobody was able to help me. My work and I were chasing each other around in circles, never changing.

"The greatest enemy of change is routine."*

"In familiar environments and routines, we operate on autopilot. Nothing changes."*

Even though there was no big change happening to me and my trading day to day, I realized that being alone was not going to help. One day during an online class I met a person who suggested I join a big group of traders. This was a big step forward for me. I was very interested in how others see the process. I could talk to traders in real time during the day about what I saw and what they saw. We shared views on the markets, but that was not all. Online lessons became clearer, and I started to understand more and more of the technical side of the trading scene. This was all because I now had other traders to share with and talk about markets.


This wider view, the lessons and reviews with many traders, were steps for me to know more about trading rules, plans, and strategies. But, it was still hard and painful. I started building a set of simple rules for myself to trade better. It was far away from the stage where I am now, but one lesson was crucial - breaks. I know I’m straying from today’s topic, but I want to get this out there as soon as possible now that I’ve thought of it. The best decision I ever made in trading was to take breaks. Since I started this habit, I've become more relaxed and more prepared for the next day. My breaks are small ones during the day, or big ones after a bad day.  I also choose to take a whole day off on days when the markets are not so good for trading, and of course just for time with my family or friends. It doesn't do any good to tie yourself to your computer on a forced schedule because you end up making mistakes. One of the best breaks that I ever took was my decision to go back from live to SIM trading in December 2012. It was a break from losing and from stressful trading. It allowed me to move on and work on myself as a trader, instead of focusing on the money.


"When you act as your own trading coach, your challenge is to stay fully conscious, alert to risk and opportunity."*


But, I digress. After a long time, a very long time, I started to get the feeling that change was about to occur. The change was with how I see the market. It’s not about the technical picture, but about me being able to control myself, my actions and reactions, based on my rules. I finally saw that I would be able to achieve success because I started to plan with strategy and risk management. I realized that rules and patience were the keys for me to get this right.  If only I had some of this insight from the beginning, I would have saved myself lots of stress and tears.  That’s why I hope I can help you all to start your own plan sooner rather than later. 


"In short, it’s the mental routines—the mental environment—that we most need to change to break unwanted and unprofitable patterns of thought and behavior."*

*LESSON 4 The Daily Trading Coach 101 Lessons for Becoming Your Own Trading Psychologist by Steenbarger, Brett N.