One of the common questions voiced was: How can you tell when a trader is passionate about trading vs. addicted to it?The first step in dealing with any addictive pattern is identifying it–and identifying it as a problem. Here are a few questions that you might ask yourself:* Have there
I describe a technique that I use when a trader falls into overconfidence after a winning streak. We use guided imagery to visualise a scenario in which the most recent period was a losing one. Would the trader still put on the trades being contemplated? If so, would the sizing
Sound trading lies at the intersection of rigorous thought and decisive action. Without rigorous thought, we trade randomness and fall prey to impulse. Without decisive action, we betray our best ideas.Overtrading occurs when we take risk without a clear edge in our trade. On the surface, this seems like madness.
Traditional trading psychology has tended to focus on the emotional side of human nature as a source of performance success: both controlling emotions and maintaining discipline and using our feelings as intuitive sources of information. Both are essential; indeed, it is only by becoming observers to our emotions that we
Real time stress is one of the most common psychological challenges faced by competitors in performance activities. Even very experienced golfers have been known to get the “yips”. Most public speakers have had the experience of going blank during a major talk. The student who has studied all night for
Of all the psychology problems I observe among highly competitive traders, frustration is the most common. Indeed, as I recently noted in a presentation to fund managers, frustration is a great example of the principle that strengths, taken to an extreme, can become vulnerabilities. When we are achievement oriented and