Saturday, October 10, 2015

The Real Reason We Trade Emotionally

OK, so here comes one of my best posts.  

Ready?  

I'll give you a view you won't hear from any mentor, coach, guru, or furu.

Why do so many traders talk about trading being a mental game and making bad trades because of emotions?  Why do you find yourself making the same mistakes again and again, making money only to lose it?

Is it because you lack discipline?  Is it because you cannot control your emotions?  Is it because you don't stick with a trading process?

No.

You have emotional problems in markets because you're the market's bitch.

You heard me right, Mr. Independent Trader who doesn't want a 9 to 5 job and wants to only work for himself.  You're the market's bitch.

From open to close, you're hanging on every market tick, letting it sway your thoughts and feelings.

When the market treats you well, you feel good.  When it treats you poorly, you feel like crap.  When the market's not moving, you don't know what to do.

If you behaved that way in any relationship--with your boss at work or your spouse at home--everyone would see that you're someone else's bitch.  But with markets, you tell yourself it's dedication, it's a passion for trading.

Bullshit.  You the market's bitch.  

You have a relationship with the market and anytime you're controlled in a relationship, you're the bitch.

The only way to have an even relationship with the market is to control when you play, so that you don't get played.

That takes rules, that takes finding and sticking to edges--and it takes the willingness to not play when your edges aren't screamingly apparent.

What you got ain't passion for trading; it's a need to play.

If you need to play, you're going to get played.  You're going to be controlled by market behavior.  You're going to be the market's bitch.  

Further Reading:  Life Lessons From the Trading Trenches
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