This is just incredible how I've been feeling these last couple of months, and not in a good way. It’s incredible because this chapter is the next one to be covered in my blog, but it’s also just because of how I feel. January started the year off great, February was flat in my trading, and March put me down. It’s now just the second half of April and I’m asking myself, why not hang it up? Last year took a lot of hard work to get to where I thought I would love to be. I worked hard and put myself in a position that looked great for the future, but in March I took so many steps back that now I don’t know where I am anymore. I feel like I’m going nowhere. I’m tired of being wrong and of losing money. This chapter is so exactly about me that I just want to copy it and sign below.
"If you are meant to do something—something that speaks to your talents, skills, and interests—you will display a significant learning curve in the first year or two of effort."*
And today thinking about my last two months or so, and reading this chapter, I think about possibly hanging it up.
"Let’s face it: for many, there is a time to give up trading. I know quite a few traders who have been at it for years and have never developed the skills (and perhaps who never had the talent) to simply reach a point of competence where they cover their costs."*
"If such a learning curve is not apparent, it’s probably not your calling. Hang it up and pursue something that genuinely captures your distinctive abilities. It’s not quitting, it’s not being cowardly. It’s cutting a losing position and getting into something better: a course of action that is as sound in life planning as in trading."*
The effort I put into trading is keeping me from acting on these thoughts and feelings. The goals that I set for myself and my vision of whom I’d like to become are stronger than the recent disappointment.
"Discouragement tells us that, at that moment, we perceive an unbridgeable gap between our real selves (who we are) and our ideal selves (who we wish to be)."*
"Our real selves are always distant from our ideals: the question is whether we perceive ourselves to be competent to bridge the gaps."*
I ask myself what is wrong. And it might be that my plan and the setups I trade are no longer present in the market the way they used to be. Perhaps the market patterns have changed, so what was working for me in the past is not creating the same potential today. And all these things that I’m experiencing and feeling tell me that maybe I should temporally hang it up. How many of you are in the same place? I was thinking about expectations as well, but this is not the problem in my situation. If you are looking to make money every single day, you will be severely disappointed within one week. Here this isn't the case with me, because I can wait for a good setup all week long, and take only one trade per week if there is just one to take. Another thought is that maybe I’m just overloaded. This is the type of situation that may put me into a psychological burnout.
"Burnout occurs when we feel that the demands on us exceed our resources for dealing with them."*
"Maybe it’s a reflection of changes in markets; maybe it’s a sign of unrealistic self-demands or a signal that life is out of balance."*
There’s nothing else for me to do but find out where the problem is. It could even be the market, so then the solution will be just reducing the risk.
"Reduce your risk, reassess your trading, and you preserve your capital and turn discouragement into opportunity."*
If the problem is connected with my expectations the best solution is to keep them low. This will make it easier to achieve each daily goal, by making it small and realistic.
But it can also be, and honestly I think that I've found the problem in this already, that I've put everything into trading and I miss having a life.
"An excellent strategy for achieving psychological diversification is to have significant life goals apart from trading."*
It is again time for me to embrace change. Change is the best way of staying positive and on topic, and having goals.... Change was the best way for me to get better as a trader, and now I have to change again in order to get back my good feeling about trading.
*LESSON 16 The Daily Trading Coach 101 Lessons for Becoming Your Own Trading Psychologist by Steenbarger, Brett N.
"If you are meant to do something—something that speaks to your talents, skills, and interests—you will display a significant learning curve in the first year or two of effort."*
And today thinking about my last two months or so, and reading this chapter, I think about possibly hanging it up.
"Let’s face it: for many, there is a time to give up trading. I know quite a few traders who have been at it for years and have never developed the skills (and perhaps who never had the talent) to simply reach a point of competence where they cover their costs."*
"If such a learning curve is not apparent, it’s probably not your calling. Hang it up and pursue something that genuinely captures your distinctive abilities. It’s not quitting, it’s not being cowardly. It’s cutting a losing position and getting into something better: a course of action that is as sound in life planning as in trading."*
The effort I put into trading is keeping me from acting on these thoughts and feelings. The goals that I set for myself and my vision of whom I’d like to become are stronger than the recent disappointment.
"Discouragement tells us that, at that moment, we perceive an unbridgeable gap between our real selves (who we are) and our ideal selves (who we wish to be)."*
"Our real selves are always distant from our ideals: the question is whether we perceive ourselves to be competent to bridge the gaps."*
I ask myself what is wrong. And it might be that my plan and the setups I trade are no longer present in the market the way they used to be. Perhaps the market patterns have changed, so what was working for me in the past is not creating the same potential today. And all these things that I’m experiencing and feeling tell me that maybe I should temporally hang it up. How many of you are in the same place? I was thinking about expectations as well, but this is not the problem in my situation. If you are looking to make money every single day, you will be severely disappointed within one week. Here this isn't the case with me, because I can wait for a good setup all week long, and take only one trade per week if there is just one to take. Another thought is that maybe I’m just overloaded. This is the type of situation that may put me into a psychological burnout.
"Burnout occurs when we feel that the demands on us exceed our resources for dealing with them."*
"Maybe it’s a reflection of changes in markets; maybe it’s a sign of unrealistic self-demands or a signal that life is out of balance."*
There’s nothing else for me to do but find out where the problem is. It could even be the market, so then the solution will be just reducing the risk.
"Reduce your risk, reassess your trading, and you preserve your capital and turn discouragement into opportunity."*
If the problem is connected with my expectations the best solution is to keep them low. This will make it easier to achieve each daily goal, by making it small and realistic.
But it can also be, and honestly I think that I've found the problem in this already, that I've put everything into trading and I miss having a life.
"An excellent strategy for achieving psychological diversification is to have significant life goals apart from trading."*
It is again time for me to embrace change. Change is the best way of staying positive and on topic, and having goals.... Change was the best way for me to get better as a trader, and now I have to change again in order to get back my good feeling about trading.
*LESSON 16 The Daily Trading Coach 101 Lessons for Becoming Your Own Trading Psychologist by Steenbarger, Brett N.
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