How to work on discipline

[Iconoclast1978]

Basically I have a very boring system that quite consistently makes me profits of 1 - 3.5%. It's slow but it does seem to work. I struggle to stick to my own rules. I absolutely need to now. Not just for the sake of logic and profit but for the need to damn well develop some self discipline.

Any tips would be great. I have typed up my rules and hung them in front of me BTW for next week.

 

[Trader333]

Does your system have fixed rules ? If so you could consider making it into an algo.

 

[tomorton]

Reduce your charts to the minimum needed to comply with your strategy rules. Reduce your screen time likewise, also any economic news-watching, even your forum time.

Also you can incentivise yourself with treats and prizes for, say, 5 consecutive trades that are 100% as per plan.

In any event I hope you are gradually increasing position size as your capital grows.

 

[Iconoclast1978]

Does your system have fixed rules ? If so you could consider making it into an algo.

Definitely worth considering.. And yes I am.

 

[Iconoclast1978]

Reduce your charts to the minimum needed to comply with your strategy rules. Reduce your screen time likewise, also any economic news-watching, even your forum time.

Also you can incentivise yourself with treats and prizes for, say, 5 consecutive trades that are 100% as per plan.

In any event I hope you are gradually increasing position size as your capital grows.

My wife and I have agreed to veto one another so all trades must be in agreement to be played. I definitely agree. I NEED to get away from the screen. On Monday I am starting to do her shipment processing to take some hours off her day and get me away from the screen.

I have drafted some rules which are as follows;

• TRADING RULES
• 2 TRADES OF MAX 40% OF ACCOUNT AT ANY ONE TIME
• 2 TRADES AT A TIME MAX

• ONLY TRADE OFF BIG ASS CANDLES OR ENGULFING
• TRADE ON 1 MIN AND 5 MIN ONLY
• TRADE WITH THE TREND ON 1 MIN – USE 5 MINUTE FOR CONFIRMATION
• TRADE ONLY WHEN MOVING AVERAGES ARE IN LINE AND SPREADING
• TRADE WHEN ABOVE OR BELOW 50 ON STOCHASTIC RESPECTIVELY BUT NOT OVER BOUGHT OR OVER SOLD ON 1 MIN. ALSO POINTING IN CORRECT DIRECTION RELATIVE TO HISTOGRAM
• SET TAKE PROFIT AT 4% MAX
• RUN 50% OF TRADE ABOVE 1-4% IF REQUIRED BUT SET STOP LOSS AT ZERO
• USE 5 MIN OR 1 MINUTE DIVERGENCE TO PREVENT ACTION OR TO ABORT A TRADE – NOT FOR ACTION
• DON’T TRADE TOWARDS RESISTANCE
• DO ENTER TRADES WITH RANGE AND/ OR TREND SUPPORT OR MOVING AVERAGE SUPPORT TO ENABLE DAMN SMALL STOP LOSS POSITIONING
• NEVER ADJUST STOP LOSS TO BE LARGER - ONLY ADJUST SMALLER
  
  

 

[Trader333]

2 TRADES OF MAX 40% OF ACCOUNT AT ANY ONE TIME

Does this mean that you have 40% of your entire account invested in trades at any given time ?

 

[Iconoclast1978]

Does this mean that you have 40% of your entire account invested in trades at any given time ?

No it means I have up to 80% of my account invested at a given time. However it's a small account that I'm trying to grow. In the future I'll have a max of 2 positions running at any one time each with a max budget of approx 5k to reduce latency on entrance and exit.

 

[Resolve]

No it means I have up to 80% of my account invested at a given time. However it's a small account that I'm trying to grow. In the future I'll have a max of 2 positions running at any one time each with a max budget of approx 5k to reduce latency on entrance and exit.

It becomes important for the traders to try and maintain the discipline in doing their trades into the markets.

 

[Iconoclast1978]

Back to this subject again with regards to over trading. I was up 5% by 9am yesterday morning. By midday I was up 20%. I took profits and walked the dog. (A massive German Shephard rescue dog who is aggressive to other dogs) The walk stressed me and I was mentally getting fatigued as was up by 6am evaluating the charts. I went back in, and ended up going 10% down on the day. Should have walked away at 20% up of obviously.

I was lucky in the sense that I knew natural gas was going to keep plummeting so I shorted it one final time and ended the day 2% up.

I was thinking perhaps I commit to x6 main trades per day max or 6-7am -1-2pm time frame (also avoiding U.S volatility)

What do you reckon?

 

[BigDeal]

When my kids were ready to learn to drive, I asked them one simple question; what is the most important thing you should know about driving a car? They went through various answers - ensuring you are not too tired to drive, checking your rear view mirror, ensuring you have enough fuel, etc etc. But neither of them got the right answer: the most important thing about driving a car is to know how to stop. The same applies with many aspects of our lives - using machinery, how do you switch it off?; if you set up a contract, how do you get out of it? and so on.

I think this is something which many people fail to give enough emphasis to when trading / gambling etc.. People talk about discipline, but often don't explicitly mention stopping. I don't just mean setting a SL for individual trades, but setting a limit for profits, and/or losses over a daily / weekly basis as appropriate. Everyone will be different in this, but it should certainly be part of the plan.

 

[Iconoclast1978]

When my kids were ready to learn to drive, I asked them one simple question; what is the most important thing you should know about driving a car? They went through various answers - ensuring you are not too tired to drive, checking your rear view mirror, ensuring you have enough fuel, etc etc. But neither of them got the right answer: the most important thing about driving a car is to know how to stop. The same applies with many aspects of our lives - using machinery, how do you switch it off?; if you set up a contract, how do you get out of it? and so on.

I think this is something which many people fail to give enough emphasis to when trading / gambling etc.. People talk about discipline, but often don't explicitly mention stopping. I don't just mean setting a SL for individual trades, but setting a limit for profits, and/or losses over a daily / weekly basis as appropriate. Everyone will be different in this, but it should certainly be part of the plan.

When my kids were ready to learn to drive, I asked them one simple question; what is the most important thing you should know about driving a car? They went through various answers - ensuring you are not too tired to drive, checking your rear view mirror, ensuring you have enough fuel, etc etc. But neither of them got the right answer: the most important thing about driving a car is to know how to stop. The same applies with many aspects of our lives - using machinery, how do you switch it off?; if you set up a contract, how do you get out of it? and so on.

I think this is something which many people fail to give enough emphasis to when trading / gambling etc.. People talk about discipline, but often don't explicitly mention stopping. I don't just mean setting a SL for individual trades, but setting a limit for profits, and/or losses over a daily / weekly basis as appropriate. Everyone will be different in this, but it should certainly be part of the plan.

It is important. I can well comprehend that notion. Comprehension and actualisation have never had any kind of parity in my life unfortunately.

 

[Happy2trade]

Working on discipline can be challenging since there are so many factors you need to be mindful of when you are doing anything. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Recognize your areas of difficulty
2. Set specific goals and write them down
3. Visualize your desired outcome
4. Don't wait till it feels right
5. Begin small, practise, fail, and restart

 

[Kaleb Rogers]

Living a disciplined life will always lead you to great things. Discipline becomes even more important if you are into trading because here, you are risking your money to make more of it. Without discipline, forget about making more money, you may lose what you have. To become disciplined while trading, you need to set some rules for yourself like, you won’t react to anything right away and you will not show excitement or disappointment to any good or bad news respectively. Initially, you might break these rules, but you will gradually learn how to hold yourself back in situations where you would have easily said and done a thing without thinking of the consequences.

 

[Jasonn]

The only way to develop trading discipline is through practice. Think of it as a process that won't happen overnight. You will break rules many times but if you are consistent in your will to be disciplined, you will eventually win over all the shortcomings that prevent you from following a disciplined approach. Even if you succeed in small steps, don't forget to reward yourself. It will truly motivate you to stick to your plan.

 

[Iconoclast1978]

The only way to develop trading discipline is through practice. Think of it as a process that won't happen overnight. You will break rules many times but if you are consistent in your will to be disciplined, you will eventually win over all the shortcomings that prevent you from following a disciplined approach. Even if you succeed in small steps, don't forget to reward yourself. It will truly motivate you to stick to your plan.

Actually I was thinking I noticed that I was doing more of the things I want to do and less of the things I don't so I must be strengthening the discipline muscle.

Still, over trading.... terrible. Went from 20% up on Friday to 2% up due to trading whilst tired.

Thanks

 

[jonahelen527]

Experience teaches you all. With time, you learn to improve your trades and get better with your decision-making. You learn how important it is to follow your trading plan and the losses not following it can bring. You must not just enter the forex market at the right time but also exit from it. It might sound tough but when you start practising it, it becomes a lot easier.

 

[andrewborund597]

Basically I have a very boring system that quite consistently makes me profits of 1 - 3.5%. It's slow but it does seem to work. I struggle to stick to my own rules. I absolutely need to now. Not just for the sake of logic and profit but for the need to damn well develop some self discipline.

Any tips would be great. I have typed up my rules and hung them in front of me BTW for next week.

To be disciplined is very difficult. Having goals both short-term and long-term keeps us moving every one step that seems hard to be taken.

 

[-Catalin-]

You seem to have loads of rules and some are not very clear. When the market does what the market inevitably does, ambiguity will be your source of pain and your primitive part of the brain will do its best to save you, hence trades which don’t make sense to the rational part of the brain. You should be able to trade tired but if you have to make decisions in the moment, you will be vulnerable. Having profit goals will do you in, try going for a run of trades where the entry and exit rules were followed. I have a few questions, if you look at a chart, can you see your setup easily? Can you spot your setup as it develops ? Also, how do you react to a loss?

 

[rickhobbsonce]

Discipline develops with consistency. So, ensure that you regularly study about the market. Keep a trading journal in hand to keep track of your performance. And show up every day. You will develop discipline and see results.

 

[ackleselden]

Discipline develops with time and practise. keep on practising and strategizing. Have a journal to note down your goals and try to achieve them every day. This could take a while. But with consistency, you will become more focused and stick to your plans.