And I certainly am not going to stop now!! LOL!
Thanks, Andrew, for your lovely note.
Proprietary Trader, thanks, again, for your email. Your posting on your earliest trading experience is a gem.
And now, a rehash of my gripe over my recent predicament in the form of an email reply to Jane:
It's good to hear that things are looking up for you and your boyfriend as far as trading is concerned. Yes, I think girls/women tend to analyze too much.
What I learnt about trading is that if I'm not willing to take any risk, I'm likely to lose in the long run. What I'm losing is the opportunity to learn and grow.
It's like learning to skate or ride a bicycle. Had I been afraid of falling and getting a few scratches, it would have taken me much longer to learn them.
I remember the day my Dad bought me a bicycle - think I was about 5 or 6 - he had wanted to put in those 2 extra wheels to help get me started but didn't have the time to do it. The moment he left for work, I took my new toy out to the road, wanting to see if I could actually do without those aids. I fell many times, but each time I fell, I got back up immediately to attempt to ride again. By the time Dad got home, I was all bruised, but I had learnt how to ride a bicycle! Same thing happened when he got me a pair of skates. I started by taking the slope. Really dumb thing to do - I could have broken my neck - but I learnt how to skate in one day after falling a zillion times. Guess I mastered the art of falling so I was never so badly hurt (yes, I landed on my bum most of the time) that I couldn't get back up to try again.
I often compare how I learnt to ride a bicycle, to skate, to swim, and to drive like a maniac with trading. Sadly, such comparisons are of no use now coz I think I have simply lost that spirit I had as a kid. And part of the reason, I gather, is that back then, whenever I fell, I was the only one that was hurt.. As long as I was determined enough to show my Dad I could do it WITHIN A DAY, WITHOUT HELP, and as long as I could put up with pain, I would just keep trying, UNTIL I GET IT.
With trading, it didn't feel like I am the only one in it. There're constantly 2 persons in the picture, and I feel restricted and ACCOUNTABLE. It's not that D has been hard on me. It's just me needing to show him that I am not a failure, that at least there's something that I can do better than him. I am AFRAID TO FALL when it comes to trading.
I figured that what's been happening to my trading in the past few weeks is simply the result of analysis paralysis. I haven't a clue when it started, I just simply lost my edge: my decisiveness in entering and exiting a trade.
D is actually doing better these days. He doesn't know half the patterns I know (yes, I do a lot of what you do - looking out for all the formations that are developing, and where price is going etc,etc :-) ), but he's doing better.
And I wonder why!!! LOL!!
What I learnt about trading is that if I'm not willing to take any risk, I'm likely to lose in the long run. What I'm losing is the opportunity to learn and grow.
It's like learning to skate or ride a bicycle. Had I been afraid of falling and getting a few scratches, it would have taken me much longer to learn them.
I remember the day my Dad bought me a bicycle - think I was about 5 or 6 - he had wanted to put in those 2 extra wheels to help get me started but didn't have the time to do it. The moment he left for work, I took my new toy out to the road, wanting to see if I could actually do without those aids. I fell many times, but each time I fell, I got back up immediately to attempt to ride again. By the time Dad got home, I was all bruised, but I had learnt how to ride a bicycle! Same thing happened when he got me a pair of skates. I started by taking the slope. Really dumb thing to do - I could have broken my neck - but I learnt how to skate in one day after falling a zillion times. Guess I mastered the art of falling so I was never so badly hurt (yes, I landed on my bum most of the time) that I couldn't get back up to try again.
I often compare how I learnt to ride a bicycle, to skate, to swim, and to drive like a maniac with trading. Sadly, such comparisons are of no use now coz I think I have simply lost that spirit I had as a kid. And part of the reason, I gather, is that back then, whenever I fell, I was the only one that was hurt.. As long as I was determined enough to show my Dad I could do it WITHIN A DAY, WITHOUT HELP, and as long as I could put up with pain, I would just keep trying, UNTIL I GET IT.
With trading, it didn't feel like I am the only one in it. There're constantly 2 persons in the picture, and I feel restricted and ACCOUNTABLE. It's not that D has been hard on me. It's just me needing to show him that I am not a failure, that at least there's something that I can do better than him. I am AFRAID TO FALL when it comes to trading.
I figured that what's been happening to my trading in the past few weeks is simply the result of analysis paralysis. I haven't a clue when it started, I just simply lost my edge: my decisiveness in entering and exiting a trade.
D is actually doing better these days. He doesn't know half the patterns I know (yes, I do a lot of what you do - looking out for all the formations that are developing, and where price is going etc,etc :-) ), but he's doing better.
And I wonder why!!! LOL!!
2 comments:
You're welcome - I replied to your email also, though I ended it abruptly (running behind schedule, as usual).
Few things are much like trading when it comes to self-excavation. If you permit it (if you're willing to see it), your behavioral patterns as a trader working through different markets with a mix of success and failure will dredge up and bring out a lot about you that is repressed, unexpected, sometimes happily and in some cases not.
The reason for this, I think, is because a trader begins to grapple with base emotions, bias, and - as a psychological function of trading - manipulates (however ineptly) a dispositional framework that remains a mostly latent feature of your personality unless you do one of several things (of which I think trading can be one) to bring it into the light of day.
I guess I'd say then that trading can be an agonizing crucible, or incidental catalyst for emotional catharsis. That experience doesn't seem to occur with everyone, and probably varies according to the intensity (or if) they decide to examine what is going on with themselves. What goes into you that comes to the table when you trade would have a lot to do with what comes out. If you're occasionally melodramatic and at times needlessly complicated like me, things can get pretty interesting.
Fortunately, over the years I've traded emotional trading-related turmoil has largely dissipated. But it's no secret that *you* get in the way more than anything or anyone else: one of the reasons many of those who have, are or will ultimately fail is because of what they can't or refuse to deal with about themselves.
All that said, I'm calling on my own experience and admittedly am not widely-read on the topic of trading psychology.
Thanks, Andrew! I replied to your email too! :-) Market's opening. This is a crazy week! Mad rush....
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