In my last article, I spoke about how I got introduced to Trading. It’s been an incredible journey so far, full of emotions, struggles, ups and downs, it has been a life changing experience. So, I would like to get into and explain some of emotions I went through during the first few months into the charts.
Confusion:
There were times where I just didn’t know what to do – just as I thought I had finally gotten bull by the horns I got pulled off again. I found I had confused myself with what I actually wanted to do. One moment I felt so rewarded because of a single good trade and the next I found myself wanting to give up. I was learning so much in a short amount of time that couldn’t really give myself the time to adjust or learn any one style of trading. It’s the idea that every trading strategy works, you just have to pick on and stick with it long enough to figure out the inner workings of the strategy. My emotions were everywhere and I was confused, not knowing what I’m really doing but also thinking that I’m ready to trade full time.
Anger:
I lost more than I made, and that really got to me. I was angry at myself for making trades that I had no reason for being in (chasing trades and over trading). I knew that trading could make me money so that was kind of the idea I went after but was I not achieving what I had seen so many other people achieve? I was overthinking all of my strategies and I didn’t give myself enough time to actually figure out how I am going to trade. So, I went back to basics and I started learning how to do proper Risk Management. This way I could be more comfortable when I took a trade because I knew how much I was willing to lose on a trade.
Excitement:
I was so excited when I had my first profitable week, I went into the second week and lost all the previous week’s profits and 20% of my account. Yet, I was trading the exact same way so I really didn’t know what was going on. I couldn’t believe it and I blamed it all on the market. In hindsight, I understand that that over excitement led to me looking at the market differently. The market had changed but since the way I traded worked the previous week I expected it to work the same this week. My emotions got the better of me. The emotion when winning and when losing should always be the same – neutral.
These were 3 of my most valuable emotions because I learned a lot from them. Before going through this experience, trading for me was putting money in your account and then just clicking the Buy and Sell button. And, theoretically yes, that is pretty much what trading comes down to at the end of the day, but I was treating it like a quick money game, and I was losing so much that I kind of started to convince myself that it’s okay I can just deposit more, until I had nothing left. It was pure gambling.
I had to train my mind to really not focus to much on the losing trades but rather check where I made the wrong decision. By being brutally honest with myself and a lot of introspection, I was able to learn from my own mistakes and see what the market was trying to teach me. As a trader, there is no better teacher than the market itself.
I am originally someone who trades price action, but every day I try and learn something new. I might not necessarily always implement it into my style of trading, but I keep learning just to have the knowledge. I am careful to not let it over complicate what I am already doing and not let it distract me from my current path. I just think it is good to know as much as possible.
Trading has really taught me how be patient with myself and with my progression. I wanted to quit so many times but then I ask myself “Why”, my “Why” was never a strong enough reason to quit. This is something I will take to the grave because I know this is what I want to do even if I don’t say so. Trading is a life skill, something you can carry on and teach other people. I will never forget my progress because it is most definitely one of the hardest things to master, I am far from mastering it but I am proud of everything I have done so far, we should all learn to celebrate our small victories. Trading is simple, but not easy.
So, if there is anything you should take away from reading this:
– Manage your risk
– Don’t be too hard on yourself
– Build your knowledge
– Don’t fall into the trap of comparing yourself to people who flash their wealth, you will get there if you keep going
– Make trading a business, not a game.
Until next time, Happy Trading.
Mornay Marais, Trader