Proper Belief Systems

[nassarsyed 82]

I now truly believe that 80% of success in our profession is psychology (If not more).
The way we approach markets and our belief system is key to this, here some points I am trying to instill. 
I start each day by going into the "Zone":

1. Markets are totally random and not out to "get" you, nor are individual stocks - we are too insignificant to impact it
2. You are NOT as good or bad as your last trade. While psychology plays how you act in the next trade (Revenge, Overconfidence etc.) the last trade has NO bearing on the next one as again, Markets are totally random
3. Hindsight is 20:20 - we often can see things that were simple and easy in the past but totally miss them in the heat of the moment, this is because our emotions are elevated in the heat of the trade
4. Discomfort is part of the game and there is no way to avoid it. We are built with survival fight or flight instincts. The hormone based feelings are meant to cause discomfort and hence save our skins. As long as we realize this we can learnt to control our emotions based on rules and strategy
5. Many people compare trading to sport, I am not athletic, I compare it to losing weight, I personally will need to go into a conditioning period where I will full off the wagon several times and cheat, however there comes a time when your mind clicks and you just get into it. You follow your rules and you measure you intake and results and plan for the future. I do the same with trading.

Here are my beliefs based on above points

1. You cannot predict, just react to the market. Trade what you see not what you think you will see.
2. Build edge on strategies that put odds in your favor and once you do that,
3. Religiously implement Trade Management Rules..., respect your stops (Technical, $ Value etc.). There is no way we can take out 100% off any move, but we can use targets based on levels and use scaling to have a good win:loss ratio.
4. Losses are a cost of doing business
5. Discomfort is part of the game, get used to it
6. Just like S/R are not hard lines but areas, Profits are also areas and not days. Base them on weeks rather than days..
7. Now the biggest one - DO NOT OVERCOMPLICATE DAY TRADING - it is not.

Would love to hear other's thoughts here... Thanks for looking!

Edited June 17, 2018 by nassarsyed

[Aiman 86]

Thank you for your post, it's a good reminder for a trader what day trading is. I read Mark Douglas's book, it's motivating. Personally, I now believe that no matter how much I lose it's ok as much as I'm following the rules. To be honest, sometimes I cheat(averaging, waiting for a trade to come back), and I do win the trade, the strange thing is I don't feel the joy out of it, yes I won that trade, but I traded it badly, I broke my rules! What's worse is when the trade goes bad, and the losses increase and increase, there you lose money + break your rules, it's more emotional than just losing money. When one follows rules it's less frustrating when the trade goes against him, at least you know you did everything right, you had a plan, you followed your plan, this trade didn't flufil your expectations, the next one will:) Thank you for your thread

[nassarsyed 82]

3 hours ago, Aiman Almansoori said:

Thank you for your post, it's a good reminder for a trader what day trading is. I read Mark Douglas's book, it's motivating. Personally, I now believe that no matter how much I lose it's ok as much as I'm following the rules. To be honest, sometimes I cheat(averaging, waiting for a trade to come back), and I do win the trade, the strange thing is I don't feel the joy out of it, yes I won that trade, but I traded it badly, I broke my rules! What's worse is when the trade goes bad, and the losses increase and increase, there you lose money + break your rules, it's more emotional than just losing money. When one follows rules it's less frustrating when the trade goes against him, at least you know you did everything right, you had a plan, you followed your plan, this trade didn't flufil your expectations, the next one will:) Thank you for your thread

True 100% - In fact That One Good Trade is not necessarily one where you make money, even if you lost money but you followed proper entry and trade management, I consider it a success. I actually tag those trades in my tradervue account as PlayBook Trade and than run separate stats as if those were the only ones I took and guess what, that is where i get the best % performance and ratios.

[nassarsyed 82]

My Mantra for today...

I am a Professional, Confident Trader in this for the long haul as a career

• I will not chase stocks and wait for the right setup
• I will size accordingly with Trade Qualification
• I will scale properly
• I do NOT need to continue to trade in several trades or over the whole opening hours to show that I am a professional trader
• It is small profits that will make it big in the end not slam dunks
• Look at the big picture
• Focus right now is consistency and staying green for the week, even if it is $10
• I am on a path and getting better ( I can see it ) - I am only 3.5 months into my journey and will beed 2 years to be the best I can be