Monday, April 11, 2011

the Daily Note - Accentuate The Positive

We like to think that we are always upbeat and happy during trading hours but truth is that we are buffeted by winds of change all the time and it's at times difficult to stay "alive", let alone happy.

Optimism needs to be carried forward by positive thoughts and when one is not doing well with trades, the thoughts tend to turn negative if not downright derogatory; which is the worst thinking that you can do for yourself.

While in the depth of negative thoughts, irrational emotions come into play and your view of the trade and the possible outcome becomes blurred with doubt. You may try to find outside assistance and verification but since you are already emotional, you may miss the point of their view totally or, at the least, judge them poorly.

When confronted with doubt, indecision also escalates and obsession in watching the ticks becomes evident. You become more tense, stressed and may be doing those nasty habits that do you harm physically. Holding your breath, clenching your jaw, swearing at yourself or the situation, all tend to increase your blood pressure and decrease your logic. If now, you were to be confronted with the need for survival, you could not be any worse prepared; and make no mistake that, what you are going through is a fight for survival.

So what happened? How did you get to this point? Most likely you ignored or did not set your stops. That is the single and only reason you are in the survival situation. Even the best trading plan can go bad, so, it can only get worse when your stops are not used because if your stops were used, you would be in the next trade already.

The first step for survival is the most difficult but once taken, the rest is just exercise. It's the most difficult because you have to decide that you don't want to die in the spot you are in. When real life survivors made that decision decisively and consciously, the next steps for getting themselves out of the situation, became much more clear and they could actually take the actions to help themselves continue to live. Since the mind has to carry forward the desire, it shifts to thinking in the positive allowing for the actions that assist the survival. Thinking is focused on the possible rather than the impossible allowing for the best choices to be taken, and as actions become successful, serotonin levels increase, optimism returns to perpetuate more positive thoughts and actions.

Thusly, you can asses the situation again with a clear mind and take the proper action for the trade which became a fight for survival. After which, you can further accentuate the positive by always using your stop rule, thereby eliminating the need to fight for survival in the future.



Happy Trading, Living and Dancing
Anni


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