Desperate Traders Wanted!

Lost your confidence? Fear your constant trading companion? Wondering how on earth your dream of being a successful trader is going to happen? As they used to say on the Six Million Dollar Man, “We can rebuild you!”. Not many would argue that trading can be extremely emotionally challenging. Losing money, seeing your hopes evaporate in front of your eyes, failing at something which seems as though it should be much easier than it is, can be gut wrenching. Sure, some new traders are lazy and expect something for nothing. But there are many that work really hard to be successful, and yet no matter how hard they try it seems that success keeps slipping away. What do you do when things have reached rock bottom? Here’s a tried and tested, step by step plan to turning things around: 1. Hit the pause button. When things have gotten this bad, pushing on through it is not the best strategy. Its time to regroup. You are much more likely to keep losing than you are to improve when you are in this kind of state. The more you keep damaging yourself emotionally, the harder it is going to be to turn things around. 2. Take the emotional pressure off and stop trading real money. In fact stop trading altogether until you have followed these steps. When you are in an emotional pressure cooker it is very difficult to deconstruct your trading and figure out what the issues are.

• Take the pressure off
• Deconstruct
• Rebuild
• Test

If you do this and then start replying the pressure of trading real money gradually, in the way I’m going to descibe, you’ll stand a much better chance of succeeding. As part of your deconstruction and rebuilding efforts, I suggest you read this post to give you some ideas 10 More Ways to Deconstruct Your Trading and Build a Better Plan In particular focus on these things.. 3. Be honest with yourself about your edge. ie. Do you really have one? Do you have a trading method or system that is consistently profitable, even if you haven’t yet been able to trade it profitably with real money. I say “be honest” because you’d be amazed at how many traders kid themselves that they have an edge, when in fact they don’t really know if they have or not, and invariably they don’t. Here’s a clue for anyone who is still trying to figure out a method. Its not a guessing game. Its not nebulous. When you have a method that has a consistent edge you know it. You’ve tested it. It works. You know it in your bones, and that’s what gives you the confidence to trade it. So if its not certain to you, you don’t have it yet. Assuming that you have taken the time to verify that you have an edge, and if not you’ve found one, tested it and verified it, move on to the next step. 4. Clear the baggage. If you’ve been trading real money for a while and lost consistently. If you were getting that gut wrenching feeling of fear as you traded, and particularly when you lost, then you’ve got some emotional residue from those trades that you are going to need to get rid of before you can get back on the horse and stay on. Otherwise like ghosts they are going to keep haunting you. Even though you may have sorted your method out, and you have a potential edge, you won’t be able to realize it if you are derailed by old fears. With emotional clearing techniques you can release these emotions bunched up inside you, and trade in the clear. They are easy and pleasant to do. Here are some things to clear on.

• When you’ve taken a break from trading for a few days, think about going back to trading real money again. Think “tomorrow I’m going to trade real money again”. What do you feel? If you feel a clenching in your gut, or a tension, at the thought of it, use one of the clearing techniques to release the fear. Keep doing it each day, until you can plan to trade tomorrow without any tension or fear coming up.
• Think about entering a trade and it turning against you, and losing money. Same idea. If you feel a clenching in your gut, or a tension, at the thought of it, use one of the clearing techniques to release the fear. Keep doing it each day, until you can contemplate losing without it affecting you. Losing is a normal, natural part of trading a profitable edge. You’ll need to be able to take a loss and be fine about it.
• Think about missing an opportunity.
• Think about making money. Sometimes if you have had a difficult time with losses, the thought of making money can bring up strong emotions, both positive and fearful. Release them.
• Think about any other situation that you know brings up intense feelings for you, and clear it.

5. Start replying emotional pressure gradually. Start trading on a simulator and do that until you are trading your method consistently, and you can think about the questions in the previous step without any fear. Apply some imaginary pressure to your simulated trading, like “if you are not consistent for the next week you’ll have to stop trading for good”. This kind of imaginary pressure can simulate some of the pressure of real trading. Any difficult emotions come up – clear them. 6. Start trading with real money again gradually. When you can plan to start trading again without any fear, with a sense of positive anticipation about putting your method to the test, then you are ready to take the boat out in open water again. But take it easy. If you start feeling a lot of intensity again, if losing trades disturb you, ease off and clear them out. You may need to go back to step 4 and try again. The overall aim with this approach is to seperate the rational, measurable, testable aspect of your method, from the emotions of trading which will affect your ability to trade it. To be successful you need to be straight on both. You need to be confident of your method, and you need to be confident in your own ability to stay in an emotionally healthy state. Good luck!

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