Monthly Archives: November 2014

Background Music for Focus

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Over the years I've traded with various different forms of background music or noise, with the aim of finding that right combination that allows me to work with a positive and confident attitude and laser-like focus.

Not surprisingly, I guess, what works best tends to vary from time to time with my prevailing mood.

I've tried everything…

  • My favourite sing-along playlist – good when feeling a bit flat and needing some "pick-me-up"; accepting that it can at times distract a bit too much.
  • High energy punk and hardcore – sometimes I find that aggression is the only thing that can get me focused.
  • Binaural beats and Isochronous Tones – I can't vouch for the scientific claims, but it certainly relaxes me and I feel that focus improves.
  • Guided visualisations – again they're just brilliant for relaxation and focus.
  • Favourite webinar recordings – make sure they're repeats so you don't get distracted by any new info.
  • Motivational YouTube videos – there are tons of them. Give it a try. The intent is not to actively listen to the speech though – it's background noise only!
  • And of course silence – sometimes there is nothing better!

But more often than not over the last year my default has been ambient music.

You can find some great music via online streaming radio such as provided here: http://www.internet-radio.com/stations/ambient/. My usual preference is for AmbientRadio.org (the first on the list) and Chilltrax (about half way down the list).

But I continue to experiment.

Right now I'm also liking white noise. Try this for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNqERBWaJeM

I'll update this page if I ever find anything new.

In the meantime, I'd love to hear what you play in the background while trading. Feel free to comment below if you have any favourites that you use to provide a positive and focused mindset.

Cheers,

Lance Beggs

PS. There were of course some failures as well. In particular I find that background news and TV are just too distracting. They will likely never play a part in my trading room again.

Market Structure and Price Action Study

Posted in: Trading Business, Trading Process and Strategy | , by
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"Fortune favors the prepared mind."

… Louis Pasteur

 

In a recent article I discussed the importance of regular study of market structure and price action. See here if you missed it – https://yourtradingcoach.com/trading-business/a-simple-step-to-becoming-a-better-trader/

After every trading session, find something you can learn from. Perhaps a market structure feature. Perhaps an interesting sequence of price action. Perhaps a trade management insight. Whatever you find to be of most value!

Document it.

Store it in your journal.

Review your journal as often as possible.

The article included two examples of market structure & price action study, to get you started in creating your own journal.

One of these provided an example of the following rule of thumb – A strong momentum drive into the close with no follow through overnight provides an initial expectation of a rangebound environment.

Market Structure and Price Action Journal 

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Expect Imperfection – Part Two

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I always liked this passage from Street Smarts by Linda Raschke and Larry Connors:

"No matter how long you trade, you'll never do it perfectly. Case in point. A friend of mine is a retired market wizard. This man has made over $100 million trading futures. He told me that his biggest weakness was that he never mastered his exit strategy!"

In last Friday's newsletter we explored the idea that imperfection in decision making and outcome will ALWAYS be a normal part of our trading. (See here if you missed it!)

Only a few hours later as Friday's session commenced, I experienced the following trade. Naturally I had to share it as well.  🙂

 

Expect imperfection

Expect imperfection

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Expect Imperfection

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Imperfection is part of the game. Expect it.

While you should always seek to minimise error and to improve your market reading skill and decision making abilities, you cannot ever completely eliminate imperfection.

Instead, your job is to learn to profit over a series of trades, despite the presence of imperfect decisions and actions.

Expect imperfection

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Do You Need A Better Belief System

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"The words we attach to our experience become our experience."
… Anthony Robbins

 

The following are extracts taken from email Q&A with traders (taken at random from my email archives).

  • I love trading and keep on working hard, striving to become a better trader each day.

  • I am constantly working on my weaknesses but they are now finally in a minority of sessions.

  • I took 2 months off and took a step back from the charts. I was able to identify several very big problems with my "process", and since then I've addressed the concrete problems and am constantly working on the less tangible issues. The first half of 2013 was incredibly painful, but taking that step back was like a breath of fresh air. I came back to the screen in June, and since then I've doubled what I made in 2012. More importantly, I am much (much!) happier with my process, especially with regard to my journaling and daily review. I'm still working on it, but the idea of process > outcome has become a central theme – I've even printed it out and posted it on the door to my office and on the wall above my main monitor. I ran through the psych and emotional cap exercises in your YTC ebook, and the evolution of my answers have been very instructive as I look through the past 2 years in general and the last 10 months in particular.

What do you notice that is common amongst all these statements?

For me, they are all positive and empowering. These traders are taking personal responsibility for their own growth and development. They are actively working on themselves – expanding their knowledge, building their skill levels and adopting a positive growth mindset.

Let's compare the above statements to these extracts from other email:

  • i just wish i could find a simple method to do over and over which is successful. so far, no luck. 🙁

  • I am not greedy – I just want to execute the perfect trade everytime and let rest take care of itself.

  • i need signals

  • Why do I always feel lost when I look at the chart?

  • I don't care that you disagree. It's clear to me that the broker screwed me over.

  • THE OWNER OF THE SITE IS VERY ARROGANCE AND I DON'T LIKE THIS SH##;

Well, apart from the last one which I just find amusing (I guess that comes from my arrogance), what are the common elements in these statements?

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