Exiting a trade?

I detect ambivalence and frustration. You have to decide which of the three kinds of people you want to be.

1. Those that make things happen.
2. Those that watch things happen.
3. Those that wonder what happened.

I have my favorite motto pasted to the bezel of my monitor so that I can see it and be motivated by it constantly.

"If it is to be, it is up to me"

I detect ambivalence and frustration.

Totally spot on Howard, thats exactly how I feel.

I know which one I want to be thats for sure. THE ONE THAT MAKES THINGS HAPPEN.

Its the getting that mindset and kepping it there where the problem lays.

That's a good motto to go with. I shall try and think about that and say it to myself at least once a day.

Its funny how we've sort of drifted of topic to the psychology of things but that just shows how the two are interlinked.

I think a lot about the psychological side of things and always try to keep a positive mindset because I have a theory that to attract what you want you have to be positive, but this can be hard sometimes when you staring at an open position going for/against you.

Because if you have a negative mindset then all get is s*it and bad results, which I'm sure a lot of people have experienced or can agree with.

Thanks to everyone how has contributed to the thread so far.

It was relatively easy to detect as I've been there myself. I'm severely bi-polar. The ups were spectacular and the downs sucked. When I was down I would give up much of my hard earned gains. I never became a really successful trader until I got the right help.

"Better living through Chemistry" Those old enough will remember this tag line from a television commercial long ago and will laugh. The rest of you will just understand.

Cheers and yes I can see how confusion, indecision , unpredictable own actions may whack in if we lack a sure footing on how we wish to approach trading the market in the first place.

And if all our market exposure experience is formative of how we perceive them to be , then It is clear to me that left unguided, it is no wonder it can often take many months/years of time exposure to the market environment for an individual isolated trader to understand and develop his fixed internal outlooks confronting a fluid market.

So what I think should happen, is that a trader needs to know his self inside, as to how he must approach the market conditions outside of himself.

And this brings my thinking back to the question of

Do I need (for myself) to approach the markets based on my internal driver that I feel, know, am drawn to... etc that

a) The markets are random or

b) The markets are not random.


And this is just my own thoughts on it, but with myself I have always felt option b) . For someone else, to them, it could be option a. But I would want them to know whats right for themselves , that is where I would nudge someone to head towards, answering that one bloody question firstly.

As from that , I feel, it may help the individual with the development of the entries and exits executed in the market and those actions taken are more likely to be planned, controlled and understood by the individual making them.

It's a bad situation to be in isn't it? What help do you mean?

Once I overcame denial, I visited with a psychiatric nurse. A combination of talk therapy and medication (my reference to Better Living Through Chemistry) ended up working for me. I had abdominal surgery. The medication stopped working. Back to the nurse to find different chemistry. I am a continuous "work in progress."

Every individual needs to find their own key, usually with the help of a professional. What worked for me may not work for others.

I agree with you entirely. I think that because the journey is more of an internal one than most people realise, is the reason why the majority of people fail in their journey to become successful/profitable.

I am trying to discovery myself from a psychological perspective to overcome some of the issues that i know are there. Once I have figured out these issues I will then have the problem of figuring out how to deal with them.

I really never knew how much a task learning to become successful/profitable would be when I first knew that the average joe was able to trade. I learned the basics from the babypips website then looked at chart and thought to myself this is going to be easy I'm going to be rich. Ha ha ha what a joke that is. I'm still glad I've started the journey I just never thought it would take so bloody long, be so hard and take up so much of my time.

Can I ask how you came to your conclusion that they are not random?

Another path to overcoming some of the psychological issues is to get a coach. It works just as well in trading as it does in sports. A good coach will not only be able to understand your concerns, but will give you confidence as you begin to make good decisions with someone you respect as a backup to discuss your trades with.

I apologize for neglecting to mention this in my previous post.