Anxiety is the worst thing we can experience as traders, and it can ruin us. When we as traders do well we increase our risk. And when we start losing day after day, then our anxiety goes up, too. This pushes us away from good trading, the kind that’s planned and based on rules, and pulls us towards the kind that’s emotional.
"The expert performer does not think positively or negatively about a performance as it’s occurring. Rather, he is wholly absorbed in the act of performing."*
"Thinking positively or negatively about performance outcomes will interfere with the process of performing. When you focus on the doing, the outcomes take care of themselves."*
We’re supposed to be doing what we've planned to do. Trading based on a plan and rules will never cause a trader to be overwhelmed with anxiety. If you do what you plan to do, and you do it no matter what the outcome, then you’re always going to do the best you can. By going over each trade we know what we did well or badly. By tracking bad days we can see what setup and what kinds of trades are not working, and this becomes our learning process.
"When you are your own trading coach, you want to get to the point where you actually value good trading ideas that don’t work."*
Each trade is a lesson. The best lessons are actually bad trades, but it’s up to us as traders to take something away from them and learn. It isn't necessarily always our mistake that made it a bad trade. It might be a change that occurs in the market. It might be the news, something that just happened and moved our trade from green to red. But, we must be prepared for outcomes like this every single time. That's why we have stops, plan and rules. They keep us from getting anxious and reacting emotionally.
"That good losing trade is either telling you something about the market, something about your trading, or both. Your task is then to take a short break, figure out the message of the market, and make an adjustment in your subsequent trading."*
"The expert performer does not think positively or negatively about a performance as it’s occurring. Rather, he is wholly absorbed in the act of performing."*
"Thinking positively or negatively about performance outcomes will interfere with the process of performing. When you focus on the doing, the outcomes take care of themselves."*
We’re supposed to be doing what we've planned to do. Trading based on a plan and rules will never cause a trader to be overwhelmed with anxiety. If you do what you plan to do, and you do it no matter what the outcome, then you’re always going to do the best you can. By going over each trade we know what we did well or badly. By tracking bad days we can see what setup and what kinds of trades are not working, and this becomes our learning process.
"When you are your own trading coach, you want to get to the point where you actually value good trading ideas that don’t work."*
Each trade is a lesson. The best lessons are actually bad trades, but it’s up to us as traders to take something away from them and learn. It isn't necessarily always our mistake that made it a bad trade. It might be a change that occurs in the market. It might be the news, something that just happened and moved our trade from green to red. But, we must be prepared for outcomes like this every single time. That's why we have stops, plan and rules. They keep us from getting anxious and reacting emotionally.
"That good losing trade is either telling you something about the market, something about your trading, or both. Your task is then to take a short break, figure out the message of the market, and make an adjustment in your subsequent trading."*
*LESSON 18 The Daily Trading Coach 101 Lessons for Becoming Your Own Trading Psychologist by Steenbarger, Brett N.
