Struggle vs. Flow
Have you ever had a time where you felt like you were in the flow of the market, executing every trade perfectly? On the other hand, have you felt no matter how "hard you try", you can't seem to beat the market?
If you've had any experience day trading, you may have experienced both of these states of mind… In a state of flow, you feel in sync with the market. You're confident and making decisions based on "humble boldness". You're not forcing trades or chasing the market… rather, you're pinpointing your entries, letting your winners run, and cutting any losses quickly and efficiently.
In struggle, you feel at odds with the market. It seems like no matter what you do, you can't seem to win a trade. You hesitate and miss the big winner, you get in too early and get stopped out by a tick… it's just damn frustrating!
Does this bring up any "ah-ha" moments for anyone? When I understood these two positions, and learned how to control them, my profits skyrocketed! This particular subject has nothing to do with my trading system, but has a major effect on my bank-roll.
There are many exercises one can do daily to make sure they stay in the flow with the market. For example, I'll take 10-15 minutes prior to trading to prepare myself for the market open. First, I'll turn on some relaxing music, sit back, relax and envision myself trading effortlessly. I look at myself from a third person point of view and see myself relaxed and confident, alert and ready to execute a trade. I then see myself enter, beautifully manage, and then exit my trade.
Once I get through the first part of that exercise, I'll see myself take a trade that gets stopped out almost immediately. I'll allow myself to feel what it would be like to "lose" a trade… I'll focus on the feeling of great execution and immediately start looking for another opportunity. The key hear is to practice "losing" and to feel ok about that. One of the worst things you can do in trading is to get mad or emotional when you lose a trade.
Think like a casino… it's all about the odds and probabilities. The more confidence you have in your trading system, and the more you practice proper mental programming, the less the emotional stress of trading will play out in your business.
This guy is definitely in sync with flow…
