I’d like to return to the session we discussed last week. And in particular the price action which followed that discussion.
Because I found conditions quite challenging. And yet I’m fairly pleased with how I performed. With one exception.
Let’s check it out.
Stuck!
Inside my head!
Having forgotten that there is a simple way to break this pattern. A simple way to interrupt it with a question that forces a quick assessment of trade quality.
“If I could only take one more trade today, would I make it this one?”
Quick. Simple. But very effective.
Your mind and your body will reveal their true feelings regarding their confidence in your trade decision.
And when your trade decision involves no assessment of the actual nature of the market and current price action, but a whole lot of frustration and hope, you’ll know it immediately.
Don’t make this any more complex than it needs to be.
“If I could only take one more trade today, would I make it this one?”
Yes! Take the trade.
No! Stand aside.
Quick. Simple. But very effective.
I used to ask this question for all entries. I think it would be wise to take up that practice again.
Consider whether or not it might also help you to avoid some of those emotion-based “what the hell was I thinking” trades.
Happy trading,
Lance Beggs
PS.
The original article on this idea (with a slight variation of the question used today) – https://yourtradingcoach.com/trader/if-ould-only-take-one-trade/
Or for a similar but related idea, try this one here – https://yourtradingcoach.com/trader/is-this-a-trade-you-would-take-if-you-were-in-drawdown/
Hi Lance. I’ve been trading for only 2+ years and emotion is definitely less of an issue than it used to be. So, it seems, for me personally, that when “dealing with” and “trying to understand” issues with trading psychology, there is potential to over complicate things. Is “time” the most important factor when considering solutions for trading psychology issues? Repetition, familiarity, disassociation, and desensitization all require substantial amounts of time. So, if getting stopped out is causing emotional trading issues, try getting stopped out 20,000 times and through desensitization, maybe it won’t cause an emotional rise anymore. Thoughts? Considering the substantial time you’ve accumulated in trading experience, is psychology an issue for you? Was it ever? Or are trading psychology issues just an inherent part of the learning curve; giving time as the only real solution? And giving an extra component to the importance of keeping risk small for a long time in the beginning, as to give an account a chance to survive the very steep and intricate learning curve all new traders must overcome to succeed.
My thoughts… emotion never goes away entirely. We’re human. But yes, we do get far better at managing it. And desensitisation through time is a part of that. But it’s not just time. Play a game without edge and you can have all the time in the world to desensitise, but you’ll never overcome that fear of loss on any one particular trade.
Everyone says they understand the concept of edge. And the idea that trading is a matter of probabilities, not certainties. And yet the behaviour of most traders shows that they haven’t truly internalised and accepted what this means.
You need time to understand edge and how to find it in the markets. You need time to develop confidence in your ability to see edge appear in real-time and to act decisively on that signal. You need time to develop trust in your ability to manage the position appropriately so that it doesn’t damage the edge.
Achieve that, over time, and you’ll become somewhat desensitised to individual trade risk or loss. Fail to achieve it, and all the time in the world won’t be enough.
So yes, keep risk small so that individual losses are as close to meaningless as you can. And more importantly, so that you can survive the journey without blowing out the account. And then work on edge.
Thank you Lance. I appreciate the wisdom.
hi lance
im sorry , for my bad language 🙂
i have a question!
where can i find pattern(spike and ledge , spring or upthrust , expansion Bar and . . .)
i think it is Traders trapped pattern
i cant find this pattern picture
you say in book get (Specialized training resources related to patterns)
if I’m not mistaken!
umm wathever i serch in google but cant to fing it
if you can help me
im here
ty
shayan
Hi Shayan,
The patterns I use for triggering into setups are outlined in the YTC Price Action Trader – https://yourtradingcoach.com/ytc-price-action-trader/
Cheers,
Lance.
tnx lance
i have a more question!
Do I have to build my own market structure journal , with just printed charts from the my trading session? Or or i have to study all sessions ?
The simplest way is just one entry per day, based upon that current trading session. But by all means, if you have time, feel free to go back through as many historical sessions as you can.
But otherwise – one entry per day for market structure & price action study. And one for your Trades Journal as well. You need to make the workload manageable.
Hi lance
Thank you for caring
–
my time is free! All hours of the day.
1-I want to know, if I should just get a printout of the London session?
(11:30 until 17:30) Because I work in London session(11:30 until 17:30).
(if question 1 is yes ) 2-If I study the London Session(11:30 until 17:30), can I work with the London Structure Information in the New York Session(15:30 until 00:30)?
(if question 1 is no) 3-Can I read all the sessions(00:00 until 00:00) and trade on London?
Am I too complicated?
Only you can help me
I hope my questions do not make you angry.
Shayan,
You are overcomplicating this. Study the structure of the markets, sessions and timeframes that YOU are going to trade. Forget the rest. Keep it simple.
Lance
My problem with the structure was solved, thank you
my next question : Do I have to record all the details of the trade in Excel after each trade?(symbol name , order name, Losses and gains ,pip, Buying hours and selling hours)
The reason for registering is to calculate the indexes(R/R ,PROFIT FACTOR , WINRATE , DROWDOWN) after 20 trades And measure myself.
Is this action necessary or not?
Well, unless you can calculate them in your head, it might be a good idea don’t you think.
Can you please keep the comments section of the blog to the topic of the blog post. Thanks.