The feeling of never make the perfect trade

[Gonçalo Ribeiro 2]

Hi All,

I have an inner feeling which I would like to know if someone else relates...

Every time I take a trade, I end up with a feeling that did not make it in the right way... Or the entry was not perfect... or the exits were not good... The sizing up could have been done differently... the set up was not an A+ one... 

Even if a trade turns green, there is a lot in it that tell me "damn it... it could have been better"... I have noticed that this feeling leads me to jump into other trades which end up even lower quality, and ultimately, this reasoning process repeats now at an increased rate... 

To sum up, all of us look for trades we can be proud of. In my case, I have never felt it even though take green trades. And I have a feeling that seeking for that clean, picture perfect trade where you capture all its essence at fullness is actually interfering with my ability to keep composure while trading.

Does someone relate to this?

Thank you everyone,

ps: my first post and hope to bring other contributions to future discussions 🙂 

[Gonçalo Ribeiro 2]

Thank you for the guidelines @peterB , more planning will certainly take those feelings out of the table.

[KyleK29 260]

I'd say there is no "perfect" trade without a time machine. Perfection is not a measurable nor realistic goal in trading because it requires all independent variables to go in your favor.  When I was playing competitive hockey as a goalie I used to be one of a few goalies that wasn't 100% satisfied with a shutout, a result most goalies would be thrilled with - I knew I made mistakes (a mishandled rebound, etc.), and I made notes after the game on how to improve that scenario in the future, but I never sought perfection in the game. Why? In the flow of it, you don't have the benefit of hindsight, you only haver the information provided to you in the moment and have to react in a split second. Attempting to achieve perfection can drive you mad (this coming from a perfectionist) and it will cause you to overthink a scenario. 

I'd suggest to reframe it to a more obtainable metric; like maintaining consistency; and know that there's always areas for improvement. You build your foundation brick by brick. 

Edited July 7, 2020 by KyleK29

[Justin 264]

6 hours ago, Gonçalo Ribeiro said:

ps: my first post and hope to bring other contributions to future discussions 🙂 

Welcome @Gonçalo Ribeiro! What a fantastic first post. And then to get gems of feedback from two of our top contributors!

No perfection is to be found in a market that is ever changing, only finding ways to keep improving.

[Gonçalo Ribeiro 2]

@peterB thank you for the valuable comments! It gets difficult to know if you are doing well when there is so much going on and you are still looking for you personal playbook... I will in any case try to observe more and define the moments I enter in...
@KyleK29 I played competitive football (inUS you call it soccer right? lol) and resemble on what you said. It is virtually impossible to reach perfection! I will monitor some other metrics and rely on those instead. Thanks for the tip!

[Christopher 129]

I've been in sim for around 7.5 months and have probably taken around 400-500 trades and not one of them was like "That trade could not have been any better" That's what I love about trading, every trade is it's own unique optimization problem that you essentially try and solve real time, with only your knowledge / experience to guide you! You can always be better, that's what gets guys like Andrew excited to wake up and trade even though they've been doing it for years. You can always be better, and every day is unique, and every trade is unique. 

[JohnC 5]

If you have not already watched or if it's been a while i would look at Dr Katz webinar on Anxiety & Trading ( not that i'm saying your anxious ).

I'm new to the community and trading but find the psychology resource great even just for the learning process. I get the overwhelming feeling sometimes with the amount of material to take in but watching these webinars help.

[Brendon 146]

A reoccurring emotion comes through my mind every time I miss that perfect entry. It's 'should I enter now?' and I always say let's wait for just a little bit more confirmation, the price cant move that much, I won't miss it lol. And sure enough you're slightly late in the trade or you don't take it and Andrew says 'That's alright I will take it for you' or some smarty thing lol. Sometimes you may get really close but it's never perfect and that is just fine. I find the risk of a failed trade is just too high before that little bit of more confirmation comes through. So I rather increase my accuracy two fold than get a slightly better entry where my gains would only be slightly more. Sure you would feel like a boss but that's just a feeling that isn't long term account growth 😄 depends on what you want of course.

Also if you're up or down for the day that messes with your entries as well (I am leaving that factor out for now).

[TCTrader 2]

The only perfect trade I ever had was in 5th grade, when I traded a 1989 Bob Tewksbury baseball card for a Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card.