Sunday, February 03, 2019

Three Ways of Turning Your Trading Psychology Around

Looking back on recent conversations with traders, here are a few ways of turning your trading psychology around by finding the light in the darkness:

1)  Using losing trades as learning experiences - The best losing trades are ones that should have worked, but didn't pan out this time.  Very often, that tells you something about the market that you can incorporate into your next trade.  The losing trade is not a loss if it leads to a larger winner.  And it's not a total loss if it leads to good learning about your trading.

2)  Using people's negativity as a positive challenge - Others may doubt us or not care about us and that can be hurtful.  It can also provide the motivation to double down on our efforts and refuse to buy into their negativity.  We don't have to become bitter when we can focus on becoming better.

3)  Pulling out your winning trades and learning from them - It's human nature to focus on what we've done wrong.  But if you're relatively flat in your performance over time, it means you've probably done some things well and others not so well.  Often, it's the winning trades that can teach you what works in the current market and how you best manage positions and risk.

The research in psychology tells us that maintaining a positive mindset is good for creativity, it's good for productivity, and it's good for our mental and physical health.  The latest Forbes article contains more ideas about how we can turn negative emotions into positive well-being.

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