Sunday, March 28, 2010

The Weekend Trader - It's OK to Get Mad

On this Palm Sunday, I discuss why it's OK -- and perhaps even essential -- to get downright mad at poor personal performance.  I also follow up on Friday's post concerning the firing of my head trader.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

P.S. Here's a great Easter season link reminding us how fortunate we are to have received the gift of color.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

If getting mad works for you, then more power to you.
In Mark Douglas's book "Trading in the Zone" pages 176-179 he mentions that if you want to become a consistent winner, then mistakes can't exist in a negatively charged context. Mistakes simply point the way to where we need to focus our efforts to grow and improve ourselves.
I believe it was you that stated one time that energy was related to not having a single negative thought enter our minds.
Everything we think, say and do as a trader contributes to and therefore reinforces some belief in our mental system. Hence, it is extremely important to pay attention to what we think, say and do......in order to become a consistent trader.

Winkinatcha said...

Oh My Gosh Don you are wearing a JACKET.... Freaking me out man :)))

;)

Jay Nocats said...

Hey Don. I was forced into sim trading after messing up my account.

I finally learned what I did, why I did it, and how I "knew" the lesson but never changed the habit and "walked" the lesson.

I'm now really glad I slipped under minimum margin to clear my head for a week or 2. I will be working part time after market hours, sim trading what I now think I can do. And after a lot of sim gains, I'll reload.

I blogged this with more detail.

I'm still psyched up. But this time, almost calm and confident and a plan and no rush. No RUSH. I'll let u know how it went in about 6 weeks.

Don Miller said...

As I've also mentioned, everyone gets motivated differently, and people have to find out how they're wired and motivated ... which will vary by every person on the planet. Such is why there's no "one size fits all".

Like many athletes (remember I view trading as a mental sport), I trade better, am more focused & aggressive, and trade at a FAR higher performance level when aggravated, as I've learned to channel such emotion positively.

Such is why the fictitious draw concept works so well for me.

So for me, such feeling is -- to use Douglas's comments -- POSITIVELY chaged context.

Don