I talk a lot about emotions in these articles. Why is that? Mainly because emotions are what is going to cause you to lose or make money on any given day. To succeed you need to trade with as neutral a frame of mind as you can muster.
With everything going on in the world these days it’s no wonder many of us are walking around in anger or frustration 24/7. Everybody is being accused of being something they probably aren’t or being accused of being entitled to something they are really not entitled to. I can feel myself steaming every time I scan through my Twitter feed these days. Our freedoms are being systematically stripped away. It’s no wonder we are all pissed off. Your anger can come from many places. Perhaps you had a fight with your spouse, or your daughter ran a key down the side of your Maserati while she was riding her bike. Whatever the source of your anger it should be dealt with before you begin trading.
You can’t trade successfully if you are in a heightened state of anger. If you don’t believe me, track it. Add a column to your trade tracking spreadsheet to indicate the emotion you were feeling when you took the trade. I’d be willing to take a large bet that the days you are emotionally high are better than the days you are emotionally low. Being at an emotional low can cause us to do some stupid things.
When you are coming into the trading day angry, I’d recommend taking the day off if that’s what it takes. All of your emotions affect you when you are trading, not just the ones that hit you due to your trading. If you are sick or emotionally off balance you need to take a step back to recharge and to get your head on straight.
For more great articles like this consider joining my coaching group “Coaching With Cliff” here are Live Trader’s. More information on the group can be found at the link below.
https://livetraders.com/groups/detail/2b144965-1248-4117-a8e0-be3f70c5725d
