A loser trades in a fog and doesn’t know why he keeps losing. If he knew, he would have done something about it and become a winner. A loser tries to manage his trading the way an alcoholic tries to manage his drinking. Losers’ desperate hopes for magic solutions help advisors sell their services to the public. They switch to new trading systems, buy more software, and look for tips from new gurus. As losses mount and equity shrinks, a loser grows desperate and converts outright positions into spreads, doubles up on losing positions, reverses and trades in the opposite direction, and so on. All of that does him no more good than switching from hard liquor to wine can help an alcoholic. A losing trader careens out of control, trying to manage the unmanageable. Alcoholics die prematurely, and most traders bust out of the markets and never come back. New trading methods, hot tips, and improved software will not help a person who cannot handle himself. A loser keeps getting high from trading while his equity shrinks. Trying to tell him that he is a loser is like trying to take a bottle away from a drunk. A loser has to hit rock bottom before he can begin to recover. You have to change how you think in order to stop losing and begin your recovery as a trader.
CLKA/CLKA/CLKA/CLKA
MY MIND IS NOT WORKING
You need to be aware of your tendency to sabotage yourself. Stop blaming your losses on bad luck or on others, and take responsibility for your results. Start keeping a diary—a record of all your trades, with reasons for entering and exiting them. Look for repetitive patterns of success and failure. Those who don’t learn from the past are condemned to repeat it. A trader needs a psychological safety net the way a mountain climber needs his survival gear. I found the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous, outlined below, to be of great help at an early stage of trader development. Strict money management rules also provide a safety net, while the diary helps you learn from your mistakes as well as successes.
AI
