Postby dudehead » Mon Feb 01, 2010 8:04 pm
Pro, I gotta give you a hand for having the right attitude and putting yourself out there for others to see and comment on. But after reading a year's worth of your posts. I see a pattern, which you know very well.
1. You keep thrashing about, trying to find the "perfect" system that resonates with you.
2. No matter what you try, every time you step in front of a quote screen, your best efforts devolve into a binge of scalping and "revenge trading."
To use an analogy, you are a 500lb man who knows he must diet, goes to the buffet with the intention of eating a salad, and ends up eating the whole buffet. I don't mean to be giving "atomic wedgies" here. But, of course in trading, if we don't get to "brass tacks" we'll get nowhere.
My conclusion is, the first, and only task you should work on is having the discipline to stick to your trading plan. I know you've heard it before, and have repeated it like a parrot, but you don't DO it.
You've got approach it just like your workouts. You can't start benching 110 and the next day put 280 on the bar. You bench 110, then 115, etc.
For trading, just pick ANY system. Forget about the result, win 1 trade and lose 9 others, it doesn't matter. You focus on winning and money -- and that is your problem. You must focus on DISCIPLINE, that is your real problem.
Take that system you pick, and when you can execute it, AND ONLY IT, flawlessly everyday for a month, then you have hope of overcoming yourself. Don't trade anything else at all until you can trade that one system without breaking your trading rules. Don't worry if the system is an overall winner or not, that is not the problem you need to work on, nor is the system you pick going to be the one to make you a GAZILLIONAIR! It is your learning of discipline that will make you the $$ in the end.
Just by way of sharing, every time I put on a trade, I would look at how much $$ the trade was up or down. I would get very emotional about it. You know what I did? I changed my display to show only how many pips I was +/- my entry. That caused me to focus on whether or not I was getting close to my TP or SL according to my plan. I took away the thing that was affecting my emotions the most.
Sorry for the long post, but this forum is the best one I have EVER seen for being supportive and not wanting to leave anyone who puts in an effort behind.
You will prevail, if you face your real problems, if not, you'll be continuously frustrated.
Hope this helps,
Burke
There is but one simple truth to wit: the truth is always simple