Great quote! I’m sure the book will be insightful. I take it at a level - believing you are consistent and believing you are a winner. If P&L says different that just means you’re in the learning stage (not that you/we are losers). It’s super easy to get down on ourselves, but think of a pro athlete or any professional at the top of their game… if they lose a contract, miss a shot, etc - they don’t go into a bunch of self doubt and tell everyone how bad they suck… they’re still winners that made a little mistake or “can’t win them all” kinda thing. I’ve seen some of my trading friends get really down when they lose even if they followed process - I believe this to be counterproductive …. If we followed strategy/rules in a game of probabilities and it didn’t work out - just gets us closer to being on the right side of probability. I know easier said then done, but we have to start saying it, thinking it & believing it so we can live it!!!! We’ll miss you today. Hope you enjoy your new semester!!

My school is back in session (I'm a teacher) so I've been alittle behind but I got ch. 4 read and am happy to post today. Won't be able to join the meet until next week though. W " Winning and consistency are states of mind the same way that happiness, having fun, and satisfaction are states of mind. If you depend on outside conditions and circumstances to make you happy (so you are always enjoying yourself), then it is extremely unlikely you will experience happiness on a consistent basis. A Mark points out that our "state of mind" can ultimately control our day to day happiness ; it doesn't have to be the external or outside conditions of life that create joy. We all know someone who walks through their day with a smile on their face and a joyful attitude no matter what life seems to throw their way. This is a skill and they have learned to maintain that attitude throughout the challenging days. He also says this "state of mind" is how traders can experience "winning and consistency." A I understand the "happiness state of mind" concept well and work on it myself, even trying to teach my 24 year old to accept the concept. At this point, as a new trader I am not sure how to experience the "winning and consistency" state of mind yet. As a teacher, I have used reflection often to develop better teaching strategies over the years. I learn best with practical instruction. I am hopeful that the book gives more instruction as to how to get to that "state of mind."

Chapter 4 entry: W - Accepting the risk means accepting the consequences of your trades without emotional discomfort or fear. This means that you must learn how to think about trading and your relationship with the markets in such a way that the possibility of being wrong, losing, missing out, or leaving money on the table doesn't cause your mental defense mechanisms to kick in and take you out of the opportunity flow. -Mark Douglas A - Mark is defining for us what it truly means to accept risk in trading and that it is more than just accepting how much money we are willing to lose in a trade. Accepting the risk is a psychological state of total acceptance of our trading outcomes, good or bad, win or lose, taken or not taken, that puts us in what I call an "emotionally neutral state" so that we are prepared for the opportunities being presented to us without letting an "emotionally charged state" take us out the "opportunity flow". A - This is the hard work that I am focused on in my trading as of late. I have been less concerned about trading strategies, journaling, daily outcomes, total Rs, etc, etc, etc. It is not that I do not work to improve those areas, but my focus of attention has been on developing this trader's mindset of accepting consequences of all of my actions and trading without emotional discomfort or fear. I put in the hard of work of completing the PCT Bootcamp and developing a TradeBook that I found difficult to implement when I went from sim to live trading. I soon realized that there were psychological hurdles I needed to deal with and spending too much time on refining strategies and over analyzing statistics was not going to get me where I needed to go in my trading journey. In another part of the chapter Mark states, "When the internal struggles ends, everything becomes easy. At that point, you can take full advantage of all of your skills, analytical or otherwise, to eventually realize your potential as a trader". I truly believe this and I will work to end my internal struggles so that I can become a consistently profitable trader. 🙏

Chapter 4 W- There are many things that can scare you out of the market. Some you can see immediately and some that is in your subconscious that you don’t see till after the trade is done, like sleep deprivation, when your mind is somewhere else besides trading. These types of issues can land you in iffy trades. A- Paraphrasing: it is not good to get into a trade if you will end up fearing the consequences A- The first way that I’m going to try to apply this by recognizing that I’m sleepy or thinking about my other job. These have been, from what I can tell, my crux of why I get into trading something that makes me hold my breath. Also I need to stop feeling like my livelihood depends on a green trade.

Chapter 4 what a fantastic read! These are from first part of the chapter W- Consistency is a state of mind that has at its core certain fundamental thinking strategies that are unique to trading. You can’t rely on the market to make you consistently successful anymore than you can rely on the outside world to make you happy. If you trade trying to get what you want from the market; your mental defense mechanisms kick in to compensate for the difference between what you want & what you’re not getting so you don’t experience emotional pain. Its all taking place inside your head. If there’s a struggle, it is you who are struggling. A - you have to have the proper mindset to be a consistent trader similar to having a positive/happy mindset to be a happy person. A - this really resonates with me as it is discussed in every juandra of mindset/psych… if you want money - you have to develop a money mindset. If you want a family/love; you need the mindset to be in the place to recognize, give and receive love. Become a consistent trader, a CEO, a happy person, a healthy/fit person, really anything - you have to develop the proper mindset for it. It all starts in the mind - you have to see it and the mind has to prepare to have it before it can actualize in your life. You have to believe you have it, believe you’re deserving & worthy of it for it to take root. Again - these things can be read across the board for developing mindset for whatever you want in life. A happy person doesn’t achieve happiness from a mindset of despair… a truly, soulfully, joyful person will be happy no matter their circumstances. Their happiness isn’t dependent on places/things/people - true happiness & joy is a deeper thing. If you make being consistently profitable, being healthy, being XYZ a deeper thing and only think thoughts aligned with this & those thoughts become your beliefs - this will become your reality - it has to… it’s your story so write in your mind as you want it to be. The last 2 sentences remind me of being in a zen state. Stop going in each day to trading from a place of want & with expectations … we all want money - ok, but we can’t show up that way/in that state of mind. Show up calm and open to whatever opportunities the market has for you today. If it isn’t much; then it isn’t much. If it’s a ton of opportunities - cool. Be steady & in control of your emotions & thoughts. Imagine dating someone (man or woman whatever fits for you); imagine the man comes around always wanting XYZ or the woman seems constantly money hungry - super turn offs… they seem desperate for what they want and aren’t even thinking right or able to have a good conversation because they’re so focused on getting what they want from you. Now imagine a person that you go out with that has zero agenda - they come with a good attitude and ready to move in or out based on how things go… be the 2nd person when you come to trading; not the greedy, desperate gold digger. Lol. This is a mind game and whatever is or isn’t happening that day is happening to you and in your head. You’re entering and creating any tension you feel. You’re responsible for the drama. Leave the drama for good TV☺️ Enjoy your weekend. I found the 2nd half of this chapter equally captivating and time permitting will type more sentences to share that I loved☺️☺️

Thank you for sharing your experience with your “trade journal”...gives me inspiration!

@kendal I agree this is great to read in SIM. I read the 1st time as a very new trader. Reading it again now I can see it from different eyes & perspectives. I think it is one of those books we will always get something from no matter what level we are at... Trading psychology bible in my humble opinion:)