Day Trading Mindset
Here's a short post that could have Big impact on your Day Trading. A simple yet profound statement.
When you trade, you must be in a mindset of Calm, Alert, Focus
Spend time to consider this. Think about each of the 3 words and their implications: Calm, Alert, Focus
So how do you achieve the mindset of Calm, Alert, Focus? The first step is to simply think deeply about it, and come to really believe that if you could achieve it, that your trading would improve. And it almost goes without saying that you need a quiet place to trade, free of distractions.
While you are trading, periodically try to notice if you are in the proper mindset. Suppose you just took a big loss on a trade. You're angry about the trade. This is the second losing trade in a row! Now you're starting to think about jumping into a quick trade to "get even". So now you ask yourself: Am I in the mindset of Calm, Alert, Focus? Since the answer is certainly NO, the smart thing to do is get up and walk away from the computer for a while.
Every trader must discover for themselves just how to achieve this proper mindset over a period of time. Sorry, it's elusive & there's no simple trick to it.
Calm, Alert, Focus is similar to the concept of FLOW, originated by the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. He wrote an excellent book called "Flow". Although it is not specifically about trading, I highly recommend it to all Day Traders. Interesting, a few of the most valuable books for traders are not specifically about trading. And this is one of them.
BTW, the next installment of the post Take up Arms in your Day Trading with the TRIN will appear soon.
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