Chapter 1 - Why I Wrote This Book W - "At some point, I realized that because I has already lost everything, I really didn't have anything to fear, and, as a result, I inadvertently learned one of the most important lessons of becoming a successful trader: how to "accept" a loss without any negative consequences. No guilt, anger, shame, or self-punishment." -Mark Douglas. A - I was touched by Mark's recounting of his personal journey coming to Chicago and losing everything in his life in order become a successful trader and author. His example and leadership give us all hope that if we are willing to accept loss without emotional damage, as a fact of trading in an uncertain market, we can in due time become successful traders ourselves. He didn't say it would be an easy process, on the contrary, it is psychological warfare that few people out of the many who attempt trading are willing to endure and survive. A - I ended the month of November with my worst P&L since I started trading live. I struggled with position sizing, execution and learning to trade without a fixed mentality. But I feel empowered, not dejected. It was the price I paid to open myself up to the possibilities of what the market has to offer without fearing loss or the emotions associated with losing, or as Mark put it, "No guilt, anger, shame, or self-punishment". In a strange way I feel good about this month and the lessons learned compared to my previous losing months where I had engaged in negative self-talk and doubts about trading for a living.

Chapter 1 W - "I created my losses instead of avoiding them simply because I was trying to avoid them" A - This really struck a cord with me, I think what he's getting at here is the need to just accept loss and move on. A - I really took that big hit at the start of November because I was not disciplined with my risk management which ignited a flurry of revenge trading and if I had just held my stop, accepted the loss & moved on, I probably would have ended the day green instead of my worst red day ever. I just really like how he phrased it as this need to avoid losses is really what drove me to my biggest loss so definitely something that is going to stick with me as I get back to trading.

Chapter 1 W- If you have not now realized that in trading, there is a caveat that traders must deal with. This is that the more that you understand about trading the more you emotionally invested you can be with every tick a stock makes. A- As Mark conveys in both books trading is one profession where being caring less can be a good thing A- Caring too much is something that I am really trying to put to bed in my trading career. What I need to put more work into is not watching the screen like a hawk. The way that I am going to do that is to put in my stops and, 1. Get up from my desk, or 2. Work on something else immediately after setting my stop in and work for 5 minutes. I guess it helps to post in the right forum 😬 thanks again @Miguel

W - I was beginning to learn that there was a certain freedom in granting myself permission to be wrong and maybe there was no such thing as a failure, unless something positive and useful isn't learned from the experience………. …… The less I cared about whether or not I was wrong, the clearer things became, making it much easier to move in and out of positions, cutting my losses short to make myself mentally available to take the next opportunity. A – Mark is talking about feelings about “being wrong” and how it affects our trading. A – “Being wrong” might be the most difficult thing learn to accept because most of our life (from childhood to current moment) we were taught by family/school/community to do our best, “be right” and try eliminate mistakes as much as possible. I’m still working on it.

Chapter 1 W- If you have not now realized that in trading, there is a caveat that traders must deal with. This is that the more that you understand about trading the more you emotionally invested you can be with every tick a stock makes. A- As Mark conveys in both books trading is one profession where being caring less can be a good thing A- Caring too much is something that I am really trying to put to bed in my trading career. What I need to put more work into is not watching the screen like a hawk. The way that I am going to do that is to put in my stops and, 1. Get up from my desk, or 2. Work on something else immediately after setting my stop in and work for 5 minutes. **For those without the book still the Kindle/Kindle app both should have the first chapter in the book sample**

This post highlights the system we will utilize for Book Club! Book - Disciplined Trader by Mark Douglas Meet Weekly on Thursday at 12pm ET. Book Club will run approximately 40 minutes per session. The below link will be utilized for all meetings. Susan Rizzi has invited you to join a video meeting on Google Meet. meet.google.com/sat-khuv-rbh PowerPoint if you missed initial meeting can be viewed here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jnuEZfXpBiYYDC10FOKIL2Aics6E25tgEcaansCA-dg/edit?usp=sharing

PS - same link as before and here it is! Susan Rizzi has invited you to join a video meeting on Google Meet. meet.google.com/sat-khuv-rbh