Impatience and Greed

I've tried this blog thing several times and each time lacked the commitment to stay consistent. On big winning days I don't want to lose my high by taking the time to pause and write a blog and on losing days, I'm too frustrated to reflect on the day. I decided that there is no need for me to compose an epic saga with each blog post so from now on I will try to write sometimes every few days, even if it's but a few sentences.

Today was a revelation day for me as I snapped myself out of a destructive trend. Through dedication and commitment (and a whole lot of luck) I managed to grow my trading account by 123% in just under 4 months. Since then, I went on a losing streak. Each loss was a large dollar amount and it seemed that I developed the bagholding mentality. Ed Seykota said that people that lose want to lose and people that win want to win. I gave this some though and saw that I had developed a destructive attitude. I was angry at the market for my losing money and continued to throw money at bad trades. The more I lost, the faster I traded.

Ever great trader says that when on a losing streak, it is time to take a break. I refused to stop because I desperately wanted to make my money back. That was the first problem: "Make my money BACK" I should have been thinking of moving forward but was, instead, so focused on a sort of revenge. The two might seem the same but the slight variance in mindset makes all the difference. I kept repeating to myself how much money I had to make to "break even" (back to my account high). I was not focused on being better but on being less bad.

Tomorrow is a new trading day, I have liquidated most of my positions, winning or losing, and will start with a clean slate and a new mindset.

-Still Broke