Enough is Enough.
When to Quit Trading For The Day I am human.
I make mistakes, and I am completely fallible.
Even though I have been trading for a number of years, I still find that I have self-sabotaging habits that I need to keep in check.
It's not always easy, but I find that the longer I trade, the less likely I am to make the same mistakes.
As an example of the mistakes that I tend to make, I think my biggest one is over-trading.
I find that if I have a series of losses, it is hard to accept that I have made those losses, and that I might actually have to face a losing day.
This is usually when I start going for the revenge trade, as I am now angry at the market, and feel subconsciously that the market owes me something for my efforts.
Of course this is far from the truth, and I just plain got it wrong in most cases.
A number of my students feel that their biggest mistake that they repeatedly make is over trading.
In my experience, and that of other traders I speak with, there are a few tips that can help you prevent over-trading in your own endeavours.
Like many issues we face, or shall I say 'challenges?' one of the first steps in changing a habit is to become conscious of it in the first place.
It may sound a little cliché, but it is vitally important for a budding trader to keep a trading journal.
A trading journal allows you to track your trades, but more importantly, when you place a trade, it is good to know how you were feeling at the time of placing it.
This allows you to begin recognising how your moods, and behaviours may affect your results.
It may sound like a simple task, but over time you will find that your trading displays various behaviours according to how you may feel on the day.
As soon as you become aware of the destructive behaviours that aren't in line with your best trading principals, then you can start changing those habits.
In order to take our trading to the next level, we need to develop the mindset that is devoid of emotion when trading.
This is usually how habits such as over trading come into play, as we are emotionally charged about our trading results, and want more of them, or better results from the trades.
One way I have learned to rid emotion from my trading is to view my profit and loss on any open trade in points or pips.
The logic behind this is that when you view your trades in this way, you tend to take the dollar value from your trades.
Instead, you start to see it as one big game.
Whereby the more points you manage to rack up, the more you win.
This also means that if you have a goal of say ten pips per day, then as long as you know you average ten pips over the week, or month, then your results will speak for themselves.
Successful trading isn't so much about 'getting the trade right,' as it is 'getting your emotions right for trading.
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