I am pleased to announce that shortly I will be opening a MYFXBOOK page for The MESA Trading Method! Opening a page dedicated to the MESA Method will allow the world to see the sheer power of this trading method, and to have it 3rd party verified, will offer undeniable authentication. As soon as it is up, and I have a *NEW* account funded to trade MESA, I will let you know. I am EXCITED!
Today's Pair: USDJPY
Goal pips: 20 Cash Goal:$8.00
First Trade: Long USDJPY. Pattern#1: Risk: Standard
What am I feeling: Euphoria, as the market moves in my favor, hits my goal and drops back down. I tell the traders to "trust your system". Little do they know I am really talking to myself. Each tick is like the action of a ventilator. When the market USDJPY ticks up, it is pushing air into my lungs, and I can breathe. When it ticks down ( like the USDJPY is doing as I type this), it pulls the air right out of my lungs.
The real question is:
Why do traders get uptight with losing trades?
Let's face it. No one wants to lose money. We can call it pips, units, or any other name that we choose, but no matter what word we use to cover the truth, we can never
hide the truth, we are trading with money.
Hard. Earned. Money, and no one wants to see their money flying away like the proverbial bird flying out the the cage. I have come up with 3 ( three) reasons why traders hate losses, and how we can deal with them. I will share two (2) today, and another tomorrow.
The Wasted Time
Each trading day, traders invest a portion of their lives in front of a trading screen. For me, it is 40 hours a week. When I trade, I invest 40 hours of my life that I will NOT get back. My lifespan has been reduced by 40 hours. That is a sobering thought. That 40 hours a week is the same amount of time I would spend on a job, but there is a HUGE difference in a traders job, and a "real" job. At the end of the "real" job, you get an real
paycheck. You are rewarded for the 40 hours that you have put in. You have made some
money. Trading is not like that. At the end of an 8 hour trading day, or a 40 hour trading week, you may not make any money. Instead you may have
lost money.
The Dashed Dreams I became a FOREX trader to become
rich.-not just to be rich but for what riches can
do for me. Riches equals money, and money means freedom, and freedom means choices. I can choose where I live, what I wear, what I drive, who I meet, what I can have. All of those choices aka dreams, must be paid for, and FOREX is going to do that for me, or so I thought. When trades go against traders, it is a domino effect. No money, no dreams, no dreams, no choices, no choices, no freedom, and no freedom means I am stuck where I am in life, and that is why I wanted to trade- to trade my current life for a better life.
This is the domino effect when I, you, and every other trader on the planet goes through when trades go against us, or we take a loss, we feel dominoes falling, and attached to those falling dominoes are my falling dreams.
So what can you do to survive the dreaded draw down? Here are some suggestions that work for me.
1.
Trade Small So a Loss Does Not Matter.
Do not risk more than what you are comfortable with. If you are worried whether a trade will win or lose, maybe the risk on that particular trade too much. Cut the trade risk down to something that you can handle emotionally, so if the trade does lose ( and some of them will lose, I promise you that), you will not go into an emotional tail spin. You should only become concerned when you have a series of trading losses. No
single trade should make or break you or any trader.
2.
Trading is a Marathon, not a Sprint.
Trading, is a lot like running a marathon . A marathon is a really long race. A
really long race, and it requires more than just physical preparation. It also requires
mental preparation. Why do you need to be mentally prepared? Because doing anything over a long period of time will make you ask yourself when will this be over? When will this trade finally close? How long will this take? I have waited long enough. I am tired now! We don't mind waiting for a while, but when we have waited beyond the point that we feel is acceptable, then we start wanting this to be over. We are not so much physically tired but
mentally tired. Here is where the trader has to have mental toughness, because when you start getting mentally tired of waiting for a trade setup, or waiting for the losing trade to turn around, or waiting for the trade to close, that is when you will take steps to end the waiting. You close a trade too soon. If you had just waited, the trade would have turned around. If you had waited, the trade would have hit your original take profit, as opposed to the few pips you settled for, because you were emotionally tired.
Charles... Yes? Do YOU get tired? YES I DO. So what do YOU do? Lately, I write a blog..... and continue to wait.
End of trading Day Summary
Today was a WILD day! I took a total of
8 trades. That is too many trades. I ended the down down -1.83%, but that is a great ending because I was able to catch a really late rally, that put pips in my pocket, so to end the day down less than -2%? I am pleased.
I will wait until the end of the week to post final goal numbers.
