ZLINES...

[Mr. Hyde]

An idea:Lets concentrate on winning and not losing here. Take screenshots of 10 winning trades at entry point. Make absolutely no notes. Comeback to the pictures one week or a couple of weeks from now. If you can Visually remember how you traded the setups and how the trades took you into profit, then you a solid plan of attack. What made you successful? A restaurant does not chance its menu every single week or month or perhaps even in years.

Point of doing this? Focus. Knowledge we all have, and undoubtedly will accumulate/distribute vast amounts - but focus is the hidden & only real edge.

A successful restaurant will not make changes to its menu very often you are correct. But a failing, unprofitable one will not only change its menu, but its whole identity and style.

The human mind is wired to remember the good and not bad. its why humans are able to overcome such horrific events. Why does a addict relapse if he knows all the bad that will happen. Because his mind remembers all the good times and minimizes the bad. Why do dieters fail at their diets. Because they remember that they ate 3 healthy meals throughout the day, but ignore the couple slices of bacon they stole from someone. the handful of candy they had at work and the ranch on their salad, because hey it was a salad.

Why do losing traders continue to lose. Because they focus on the 1 trade they called at the top and exited at the bottom. But then they had a bunch of losers and those were big losses and not small ones. You see it in the journals all the time. Member so and so have 40 wins in a row, but then takes a few losses, so then he widens his stops and takes even bigger losses and then even puts on trades that aren't even apart of his trade plan (assuming he even has one) and then he has lost all of his profits and then some.

I'm all for studying winning trades, but if traders spent the same amount of time studying losses and seeing 1) if they could have done something different, 2) making sure that the loss was an acceptable loss (meaning it was part of a trading plan). Then there would be a lot more profitable traders I believe.

I'm curious. All the unprofitable traders that are reading this, do you have a written out trading plan?

If we are talking about the human psyche (which it looks like we are), what we focus most will become our reality. That is exactly what most folks do, focus away too much on what they are not getting right even after trading for 10+ years. They start changing systems etc... you get the point. We repeatedly hear this from day 1 in 1st first grade for even kinder-garden & throughout our whole lives. "You are wrong, fix this or that you'll be "golden". No Damn it, first show me what I did right, Then if needed correct my mistakes.


To reiterate, Suggested mindset: First find something that actually works for you over a sample set (obvious right, only winning is the focus and the plan). Secret sauce: Visually recreate what you did right from a week or two week ago from your screenshots. Can you visually see what you did right? This will mold your brain in only focusing on the truth ( only your truth), so there is no need switch systems and kick your dog for all those losing tradings.

I guess to each their own. I like to look at it like an elite athlete would and work on my weakness taking me from good to great. I also believe in those who fail to plan. plan to fail. You look at it from studying your strengths and doing it mentally and visually with out any notes. Different ways for different traders.

[LeMercenaire]

Now we're getting interesting.

''The human mind is wired to remember the good and not bad. its why humans are able to overcome such horrific events''.

For those who aren't aware, I spent a large part of my early life as a professional placekicker and then sport climber. My brain is most certainly not hard-wired to remember the good and not the bad.

Most professional sports people will remember the time they didn't win over the one they did.

Now, of course, if I'd played in and won a SuperBowl, of course that would be a treasured memory for all my days, however I can guarantee that I would still have a collection of misses that (in my mind) cost us a game, a division, a championship, whatever (crucially, this may not even be true, it's a team sport and more likely that wasn't the case).

Here's the point...My brain made me improve because I remembered the bad - and didn't want to do it again. The old adage of ''you don't get better by practicing what you're good at'' is 100% true.

As a sport climber, who would often solo when I was in a particularly strong (or perhaps just stupid) phase, then remembering the times when I tried a move in a way that didn't work was genuinely life-and-death. If you can't do a move on a rope, then the likelihood of being able to do it un-roped becomes increasingly unlikely (though perversely getting into trouble meant that you damned-well better get it right, as the alternative was not an option).

However, I digress.

For me, the key to it all is that you need to cut out as many of the variables as possible. Repping and muscle-memory are king. This translates over into trading for me in the methods I use, in that there is very little if-but-maybe elements. What there are instead, are if 'a' happens - do 'b' - if 'c' happens - do 'd'.

That's why I can post up a set-up and trade move after the fact and anyone can look at it and know what I did. There is no ambiguity or guesswork. There's a line there - price crossed it - I entered.

It doesn't matter if I didn't even take that particular trade (unless you're in some kid of d###k-swinging contest with an idiot - in which case, bud, newsflash - you're the idiot).

It also brings me full-circle, to the idea of note-taking. I am a detail-freak. Probably not a complete surprise to anyone. However, because of what I have just said about the methods, I don't need to sit up to 4 am every morning any more to get it all down in minute detail, as basically, it's all down on the screenshots. The only time notes need to be added now, is if I did anything wrong - and there's that mind-set again, lol.

Anything that will go wrong for me will be in the trade management. Specifically if I get a counter trade wrong in some way, not in the entry. As such, I can reign in a chunk of my OCD tendencies, which has got to be a good thing for sanity's sake if nothing else.

[Leoheart]

A successful restaurant will not make changes to its menu very often you are correct. But a failing, unprofitable one will not only change its menu, but its whole identity and style.

The human mind is wired to remember the good and not bad. its why humans are able to overcome such horrific events. Why does a addict relapse if he knows all the bad that will happen. Because his mind remembers all the good times and minimizes the bad. Why do dieters fail at their diets. Because they remember that they ate 3 healthy meals throughout the day, but ignore the couple slices of bacon they stole from someone. the handful of candy they had at work and the ranch on their salad, because hey it was a salad.

Why do losing traders continue to lose. Because they focus on the 1 trade they called at the top and exited at the bottom. But then they had a bunch of losers and those were big losses and not small ones. You see it in the journals all the time. Member so and so have 40 wins in a row, but then takes a few losses, so then he widens his stops and takes even bigger losses and then even puts on trades that aren't even apart of his trade plan (assuming he even has one) and then he has lost all of his profits and then some.

I'm all for studying winning trades, but if traders spent the same amount of time studying losses and seeing 1) if they could have done something different, 2) making sure that the loss was an acceptable loss (meaning it was part of a trading plan). Then there would be a lot more profitable traders I believe.

I'm curious. All the unprofitable traders that are reading this, do you have a written out trading plan?

If we are talking about the human psyche (which it looks like we are), what we focus most will become our reality. That is exactly what most folks do, focus away too much on what they are not getting right even after trading for 10+ years. They start changing systems etc... you get the point. We repeatedly hear this from day 1 in 1st first grade for even kinder-garden & throughout our whole lives. "You are wrong, fix this or that you'll be "golden". No Damn it, first show me what I did right, Then if needed correct my mistakes.


To reiterate, Suggested mindset: First find something that actually works for you over a sample set (obvious right, only winning is the focus and the plan). Secret sauce: Visually recreate what you did right from a week or two week ago from your screenshots. Can you visually see what you did right? This will mold your brain in only focusing on the truth ( only your truth), so there is no need switch systems and kick your dog for all those losing tradings.

I guess to each their own. I like to look at it like an elite athlete would and work on my weakness taking me from good to great. I also believe in those who fail to plan. plan to fail. You look at it from studying your strengths and doing it mentally and visually with out any notes. Different ways for different traders.

Yup, to each their own buddy. Perhaps this may help an extremely visual trader.

[Mr. Hyde]

Now we're getting interesting.

''The human mind is wired to remember the good and not bad. its why humans are able to overcome such horrific events''.

For those who aren't aware, I spent a large part of my early life as a professional placekicker and then sport climber. My brain is most certainly not hard-wired to remember the good and not the bad.

Most professional sports people will remember the time they didn't win over the one they did.

Now, of course, if I'd played in and won a SuperBowl, of course that would be a treasured memory for all my days, however I can guarantee that I would still have a collection of misses that (in my mind) cost us a game, a division, a championship, whatever (crucially, this may not even be true, it's a team sport and more likely that wasn't the case).

Here's the point...My brain made me improve because I remembered the bad - and didn't want to do it again. The old adage of ''you don't get better by practicing what you're good at'' is 100% true.

As a sport climber, who would often solo when I was in a particularly strong (or perhaps just stupid) phase, then remembering the times when I tried a move in a way that didn't work was genuinely life-and-death. If you can't do a move on a rope, then the likelihood of being able to do it un-roped becomes increasingly unlikely (though perversely getting into trouble meant that you damned-well better get it right, as the alternative was not an option).

However, I digress.

For me, the key to it all is that you need to cut out as many of the variables as possible. Repping and muscle-memory are king. This translates over into trading for me in the methods I use, in that there is very little if-but-maybe elements. What there are instead, are if 'a' happens - do 'b' - if 'c' happens - do 'd'.

That's why I can post up a set-up and trade move after the fact and anyone can look at it and know what I did. There is no ambiguity or guesswork. There's a line there - price crossed it - I entered.

It doesn't matter if I didn't even take that particular trade (unless you're in some kid of d###k-swinging contest with an idiot - in which case, bud, newsflash - you're the idiot).

It also brings me full-circle, to the idea of note-taking. I am a detail-freak. Probably not a complete surprise to anyone. However, because of what I have just said about the methods, I don't need to sit up to 4 am every morning any more to get it all down in minute detail, as basically, it's all down on the screenshots. The only time notes need to be added now, is if I did anything wrong - and there's that mind-set again, lol.

Anything that will go wrong for me will be in the trade management. Specifically if I get a counter trade wrong in some way, not in the entry. As such, I can reign in a chunk of my OCD tendencies, which has got to be a good thing for sanity's sake if nothing else.

Lem is there anything that you haven't done in your life

While I can agree with what you are saying about remembering the bad, don't the best sports players have a short memory. I cant imangine Tom Brady thinking about the missed passes he had when he was down 28-3 against the Falcons in the super bowl. Or Linsdey Von worrying about falling again in this past Olympics and breaking her leg again.

Oh by the way, loving the charts arkan. keep it up

[Leoheart]

Now we're getting interesting.

''The human mind is wired to remember the good and not bad. its why humans are able to overcome such horrific events''.

For those who aren't aware, I spent a large part of my early life as a professional placekicker and then sport climber. My brain is most certainly not hard-wired to remember the good and not the bad.

Most professional sports people will remember the time they didn't win over the one they did.

Now, of course, if I'd played in and won a SuperBowl, of course that would be a treasured memory for all my days, however I can guarantee that I would still have a collection of misses that (in my mind) cost us a game, a division, a championship, whatever (crucially, this may not even be true, it's a team sport and more likely that wasn't the case).

Here's the point...My brain made me improve because I remembered the bad - and didn't want to do it again. The old adage of ''you don't get better by practicing what you're good at'' is 100% true.

As a sport climber, who would often solo when I was in a particularly strong (or perhaps just stupid) phase, then remembering the times when I tried a move in a way that didn't work was genuinely life-and-death. If you can't do a move on a rope, then the likelihood of being able to do it un-roped becomes increasingly unlikely (though perversely getting into trouble meant that you damned-well better get it right, as the alternative was not an option).

However, I digress.

For me, the key to it all is that you need to cut out as many of the variables as possible. Repping and muscle-memory are king. This translates over into trading for me in the methods I use, in that there is very little if-but-maybe elements. What there are instead, are if 'a' happens - do 'b' - if 'c' happens - do 'd'.

That's why I can post up a set-up and trade move after the fact and anyone can look at it and know what I did. There is no ambiguity or guesswork. There's a line there - price crossed it - I entered.

It doesn't matter if I didn't even take that particular trade (unless you're in some kid of d###k-swinging contest with an idiot - in which case, bud, newsflash - you're the idiot).

It also brings me full-circle, to the idea of note-taking. I am a detail-freak. Probably not a complete surprise to anyone. However, because of what I have just said about the methods, I don't need to sit up to 4 am every morning any more to get it all down in minute detail, as basically, it's all down on the screenshots. The only time notes need to be added now, is if I did anything wrong - and there's that mind-set again, lol.

Anything that will go wrong for me will be in the trade management. Specifically if I get a counter trade wrong in some way, not in the entry. As such, I can reign in a chunk of my OCD tendencies, which has got to be a good thing for sanity's sake if nothing else.

What we do on our personal time is none of your business

[LeMercenaire]

Now we're getting interesting.

''The human mind is wired to remember the good and not bad. its why humans are able to overcome such horrific events''.

For those who aren't aware, I spent a large part of my early life as a professional placekicker and then sport climber. My brain is most certainly not hard-wired to remember the good and not the bad.

Most professional sports people will remember the time they didn't win over the one they did.

Now, of course, if I'd played in and won a SuperBowl, of course that would be a treasured memory for all my days, however I can guarantee that I would still have a collection of misses that (in my mind) cost us a game, a division, a championship, whatever (crucially, this may not even be true, it's a team sport and more likely that wasn't the case).

Here's the point...My brain made me improve because I remembered the bad - and didn't want to do it again. The old adage of ''you don't get better by practicing what you're good at'' is 100% true.

As a sport climber, who would often solo when I was in a particularly strong (or perhaps just stupid) phase, then remembering the times when I tried a move in a way that didn't work was genuinely life-and-death. If you can't do a move on a rope, then the likelihood of being able to do it un-roped becomes increasingly unlikely (though perversely getting into trouble meant that you damned-well better get it right, as the alternative was not an option).

However, I digress.

For me, the key to it all is that you need to cut out as many of the variables as possible. Repping and muscle-memory are king. This translates over into trading for me in the methods I use, in that there is very little if-but-maybe elements. What there are instead, are if 'a' happens - do 'b' - if 'c' happens - do 'd'.

That's why I can post up a set-up and trade move after the fact and anyone can look at it and know what I did. There is no ambiguity or guesswork. There's a line there - price crossed it - I entered.

It doesn't matter if I didn't even take that particular trade (unless you're in some kid of d###k-swinging contest with an idiot - in which case, bud, newsflash - you're the idiot).

It also brings me full-circle, to the idea of note-taking. I am a detail-freak. Probably not a complete surprise to anyone. However, because of what I have just said about the methods, I don't need to sit up to 4 am every morning any more to get it all down in minute detail, as basically, it's all down on the screenshots. The only time notes need to be added now, is if I did anything wrong - and there's that mind-set again, lol.

Anything that will go wrong for me will be in the trade management. Specifically if I get a counter trade wrong in some way, not in the entry. As such, I can reign in a chunk of my OCD tendencies, which has got to be a good thing for sanity's sake if nothing else.

Lem is there anything that you haven't done in your life

While I can agree with what you are saying about remembering the bad, don't the best sports players have a short memory. I cant imangine Tom Brady thinking about the missed passes he had when he was down 28-3 against the Falcons in the super bowl. Or Linsdey Von worrying about falling again in this past Olympics and breaking her leg again.

Oh by the way, loving the charts arkan. keep it up

Ha - you live long enough and decide never to be bored by it, then you can squeeze a heck of a lot in!

'' don't the best sports players have a short memory.''

You are correct - but it is in fact possible to be able to do both. In fact it is crucial to be able to do both.

The key is that during a game, you have to have the ability to ''flush it'' and get on with the next kick (or pass, or catch, or serve, whatever) but at the same time, you have to then - after the game - be able to go back, with perfect, cold-eye, recall and analyse what you did or didn't do and then learn from it.

[Mr. Hyde]

Now we're getting interesting.

''The human mind is wired to remember the good and not bad. its why humans are able to overcome such horrific events''.

For those who aren't aware, I spent a large part of my early life as a professional placekicker and then sport climber. My brain is most certainly not hard-wired to remember the good and not the bad.

Most professional sports people will remember the time they didn't win over the one they did.

Now, of course, if I'd played in and won a SuperBowl, of course that would be a treasured memory for all my days, however I can guarantee that I would still have a collection of misses that (in my mind) cost us a game, a division, a championship, whatever (crucially, this may not even be true, it's a team sport and more likely that wasn't the case).

Here's the point...My brain made me improve because I remembered the bad - and didn't want to do it again. The old adage of ''you don't get better by practicing what you're good at'' is 100% true.

As a sport climber, who would often solo when I was in a particularly strong (or perhaps just stupid) phase, then remembering the times when I tried a move in a way that didn't work was genuinely life-and-death. If you can't do a move on a rope, then the likelihood of being able to do it un-roped becomes increasingly unlikely (though perversely getting into trouble meant that you damned-well better get it right, as the alternative was not an option).

However, I digress.

For me, the key to it all is that you need to cut out as many of the variables as possible. Repping and muscle-memory are king. This translates over into trading for me in the methods I use, in that there is very little if-but-maybe elements. What there are instead, are if 'a' happens - do 'b' - if 'c' happens - do 'd'.

That's why I can post up a set-up and trade move after the fact and anyone can look at it and know what I did. There is no ambiguity or guesswork. There's a line there - price crossed it - I entered.

It doesn't matter if I didn't even take that particular trade (unless you're in some kid of d###k-swinging contest with an idiot - in which case, bud, newsflash - you're the idiot).

It also brings me full-circle, to the idea of note-taking. I am a detail-freak. Probably not a complete surprise to anyone. However, because of what I have just said about the methods, I don't need to sit up to 4 am every morning any more to get it all down in minute detail, as basically, it's all down on the screenshots. The only time notes need to be added now, is if I did anything wrong - and there's that mind-set again, lol.

Anything that will go wrong for me will be in the trade management. Specifically if I get a counter trade wrong in some way, not in the entry. As such, I can reign in a chunk of my OCD tendencies, which has got to be a good thing for sanity's sake if nothing else.

Lem is there anything that you haven't done in your life

While I can agree with what you are saying about remembering the bad, don't the best sports players have a short memory. I cant imangine Tom Brady thinking about the missed passes he had when he was down 28-3 against the Falcons in the super bowl. Or Linsdey Von worrying about falling again in this past Olympics and breaking her leg again.

Oh by the way, loving the charts arkan. keep it up

Ha - you live long enough and decide never to be bored by it, then you can squeeze a heck of a lot in!

'' don't the best sports players have a short memory.''

You are correct - but it is in fact possible to be able to do both. In fact it is crucial to be able to do both.

The key is that during a game, you have to have the ability to ''flush it'' and get on with the next kick (or pass, or catch, or serve, whatever) but at the same time, you have to then - after the game - be able to go back, with perfect, cold-eye, recall and analyse what you did or didn't do and then learn from it.

That was exactly what my response was to Leoheart when he said only study your wins and ignore yours loses.

"I'm all for studying winning trades, but if traders spent the same amount of time studying losses and seeing 1) if they could have done something different, 2) making sure that the loss was an acceptable loss (meaning it was part of a trading plan). Then there would be a lot more profitable traders I believe."

I have a feeling we are pretty much saying the same thing.

So whats next for Lem to not be bored by life? Bounty hunter, treasure hunter. Professional forex teacher

[Leoheart]

Lem is there anything that you haven't done in your life

While I can agree with what you are saying about remembering the bad, don't the best sports players have a short memory. I cant imangine Tom Brady thinking about the missed passes he had when he was down 28-3 against the Falcons in the super bowl. Or Linsdey Von worrying about falling again in this past Olympics and breaking her leg again.

Oh by the way, loving the charts arkan. keep it up

Ha - you live long enough and decide never to be bored by it, then you can squeeze a heck of a lot in!

'' don't the best sports players have a short memory.''

You are correct - but it is in fact possible to be able to do both. In fact it is crucial to be able to do both.

The key is that during a game, you have to have the ability to ''flush it'' and get on with the next kick (or pass, or catch, or serve, whatever) but at the same time, you have to then - after the game - be able to go back, with perfect, cold-eye, recall and analyse what you did or didn't do and then learn from it.

That was exactly what my response was to Leoheart when he said only study your wins and ignore yours loses.

"I'm all for studying winning trades, but if traders spent the same amount of time studying losses and seeing 1) if they could have done something different, 2) making sure that the loss was an acceptable loss (meaning it was part of a trading plan). Then there would be a lot more profitable traders I believe."

I have a feeling we are pretty much saying the same thing.

So whats next for Lem to not be bored by life? Bounty hunter, treasure hunter. Professional forex teacher

Sometimes people are missunderstood, its ok just part of life. Was I truly saying to ignore your loses and only study for wins?

My comments were directed towards struggling traders. When all you see is mostly loss and you focus on mostly loss, what you think you end up with? Yes learning from your mistakes in part of the process, but isn't it hard to focus on what is working when your blowing account after account from repeatedly learning from your mistakes and changing your system? That is why I said, first show me what I am doing right then if needed correct my mistakes. Trading is unlike any other profession. Must trades can be millionaires within a first year, if they would only focus and stick to what works for them whether tracking efforts visually or not.

[LeMercenaire]

Lem is there anything that you haven't done in your life

While I can agree with what you are saying about remembering the bad, don't the best sports players have a short memory. I cant imangine Tom Brady thinking about the missed passes he had when he was down 28-3 against the Falcons in the super bowl. Or Linsdey Von worrying about falling again in this past Olympics and breaking her leg again.

Oh by the way, loving the charts arkan. keep it up

Ha - you live long enough and decide never to be bored by it, then you can squeeze a heck of a lot in!

'' don't the best sports players have a short memory.''

You are correct - but it is in fact possible to be able to do both. In fact it is crucial to be able to do both.

The key is that during a game, you have to have the ability to ''flush it'' and get on with the next kick (or pass, or catch, or serve, whatever) but at the same time, you have to then - after the game - be able to go back, with perfect, cold-eye, recall and analyse what you did or didn't do and then learn from it.

That was exactly what my response was to Leoheart when he said only study your wins and ignore yours loses.

"I'm all for studying winning trades, but if traders spent the same amount of time studying losses and seeing 1) if they could have done something different, 2) making sure that the loss was an acceptable loss (meaning it was part of a trading plan). Then there would be a lot more profitable traders I believe."

I have a feeling we are pretty much saying the same thing.

So whats next for Lem to not be bored by life? Bounty hunter, treasure hunter. Professional forex teacher [/Hunter

Bounty Hunter: Considered it...
Treasure Hunter: Did that...
Professional Forex Teacher: I'd have to buy a flat cap and a Volvo first.

[Leoheart]

Ha - you live long enough and decide never to be bored by it, then you can squeeze a heck of a lot in!

'' don't the best sports players have a short memory.''

You are correct - but it is in fact possible to be able to do both. In fact it is crucial to be able to do both.

The key is that during a game, you have to have the ability to ''flush it'' and get on with the next kick (or pass, or catch, or serve, whatever) but at the same time, you have to then - after the game - be able to go back, with perfect, cold-eye, recall and analyse what you did or didn't do and then learn from it.

That was exactly what my response was to Leoheart when he said only study your wins and ignore yours loses.

"I'm all for studying winning trades, but if traders spent the same amount of time studying losses and seeing 1) if they could have done something different, 2) making sure that the loss was an acceptable loss (meaning it was part of a trading plan). Then there would be a lot more profitable traders I believe."

I have a feeling we are pretty much saying the same thing.

So whats next for Lem to not be bored by life? Bounty hunter, treasure hunter. Professional forex teacher [/Hunter

Bounty Hunter: Considered it...
Treasure Hunter: Did that...
Professional Forex Teacher: I'd have to buy a flat cap and a Volvo first.

Hilarious.