It’s the New Year and 2013. This is the time for resolutions and life changing moments. Many will vow to exercise more. Some will quit smoking, others will take up early morning walks. But what about your trading? What resolutions are you going to put in place for the new year if any?
I challenge you to go on a 30 day “Mental Diet”. What’s a mental diet. It can be many things but for our purposes for trading and increasing your bottom line I suggest the following:
1) Do not discuss trading with anyone for the next 30 days. I know this seems extreme but why are you talking to anyone about trading anyway? Are you trading by committee? Not likely. You will find you will stay way more focused and relaxed about trading if you stop talking about it and just focus on your inner world and forget what anyone else thinks about trading.
2) Turn off CNBC. You don’t need it to trade. Take a 30 day break from the pundits on TV who don’t know any more than anyone else where the market is going to go. It’s just noise that you don’t need in your head while you are trading and concentrating on your method and the rules you set forth to trade. It’s important to realize there is no “guru” out there. There are only those with opinions, and those with opinions. Did I mention they have opinions? You get the point. If anyone really knew where or why the market was going they would mortgage their house and put all their money on that one trade. Until then, let’s forget about what the expert of the day on CNBC has to say and just follow YOUR trading plan.
3) When the day is finished….walk away. You can’t change what happened, right, wrong, or indifferent. Sitting at your trading desk for all those additional hours won’t make you a better trader. At this point either you know how to trade or you don’t. If you do, walk away. If you don’t, we can help with that. But don’t expect to be bogged down with hours upon hours of research and study. Trading is just not that complicated. Get away from the screens and get outside, get some fresh air, move your body, and enjoy the freedom day trading provides. Do this for 30 days and you will be blown away by how your perception of trading changes. Remember “less is more”.
4) For the next 30 days live by the “3 C’s” motto. No Criticizing. No Complaining. No Comparing. For trading, don’t beat yourself up if you missed something or make a mistake. Don’t criticize yourself. Learn from your mistakes and move on mentally and emotionally. You pay a dear price for holding on to all that self sabotaging behavior.
No complaining for 30 days. I think we will all find this hard but once you get this part down you will be amazed at how things change for you. There’s no such thing as failure, only results. Either you like your results or you don’t. If you don’t, then change your approach. Complaining about it won’t change a thing, especially you. Ultimately YOU are the problem, not the market, your neighbor, or your spouse. You can’t change them, but you can change how you react to them and outer circumstances. That means….No Complaining!
No Comparing for 30 days. To hell with the “Jones”. Who wants to keep up with them anyway? It does not matter what anyone else makes on a trade or how many contracts they trade. What matters is you follow your plan to the letter. You can’t spend what anyone else makes and you can’t trade exactly like anyone else. You have to be your own trader and that means ignoring everyone else. Their trades. Their accounts. Their analysis. You must do your own work and then accept and be happy with your results (as long as you are reaching your goals). This is a pitfall most traders fall in to. They erroneously believe that everyone else but them is buying the low of the day. Everyone else but them is selling the high of the day. And everyone else but them is making 20 points a day. Don’t you believe it. Do not worry about anyone else. Focusing on you is a full time job and comparing yourself and your results to others is pure waste of time.
I am sure you can come up with more things to use in your 30 day mental diet but there are 4 you can start using right now. Start today and let me know how things are going in 30 days!
Good Trading!
JC
