Dealing with the bad day

Trading is often about how to take the appropriate risk without exposing yourself to very human flaws.
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stueytrader
Posts: 863
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2015 6:47 pm

Hi all,

First post on this great forum (though been around trading and reading on here a while).

Just had a horrible day - lost about the previous 4 (terrific) days' of profits in about 2 races. Jeez I am a dumbass at times.

Just wondering how people cope psychologically (strategies) for dealing with these bad days?

I'm stuck on: "Have a pint or 5" and "Watch some rubbish TV" so far in my psychology strategy list, lol.

Be glad to converse about any better strategies - of course the one to avoid is: "Get a huge chunk of your entire bankroll and try to win it back", I'm currently stopping myself using that one.

Stu.
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Euler
Posts: 24701
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 1:39 pm
Location: Bet Angel HQ

I like to play a sport. Lets you get all your aggression out and I feel so much better whether I've had a good or bad day. Sport is good therapy full stop IMHO.
stueytrader
Posts: 863
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2015 6:47 pm

Thanks Euler - I agree in general about excercise, I often find it can help even on the good days, getting rid of tension after trading. :)
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Dallas
Posts: 22674
Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2015 10:57 pm
Location: Working From Home

As individuals with different mindsets we will all have different way of coping with these situations, only two thing we all have or should all have in common is
1) We all have days like this
2) Never try and get it back irrationally using a hugh chunk of your bank/ go gambleing
stueytrader
Posts: 863
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2015 6:47 pm

Lot of sense in that Dallas, yep.
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LeTiss
Posts: 5386
Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 6:04 pm

Unfortunately, having disappointing or even bad days are part of this job.

This is not a 9-5 job, and you don't pick up x amount of money on the final Friday of each month. However, I've come to love and thrive off that uncertainty - I write my own cheques each month & that's the greatest feeling in the world (OK, not quite the greatest :lol: )

I have a little beer fridge in my flat, which my mum bought me for my birthday - it's filled with 12 different beers. Whenever I've had a shitty day, I crack open a beer, turn on my Sky Planner order a Pizza, turn off BA and my computers......and look forward to tomorrow!

I've learned to never chase those losses Stuey, and never beat yourself up - I'm my own boss, that's always something to be celebrated
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gutuami
Posts: 1858
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 4:06 pm

in unwritten traders' <terms and conditions> there's a list with all sorts of emotions and whenever you place a trade you kind of accept or rather should anticipate them. A bad day is a good excuse to take a break. I am trying to visit some good friends or relatives for a chitchat. Otherwise sauna swimming or table tennis which I usually do in any case but after work.
there's nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so - Shakespeare
stueytrader
Posts: 863
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2015 6:47 pm

Some great thoughts there guys - many thanks.

I agree that controlling your own work is a big buzz (possibly one of the biggest draws to this game), and appreciate that.
poklius
Posts: 105
Joined: Sun May 17, 2009 11:58 am

I tend not to reward myself after bad days, so no beer or pizzas for me. Unconscious mind is powerful thing, dont want to associate losing days with "feel good" hormones :)

1. Learn the mistake, write it down in big bald letters, and put it where you can see it for a while.
2. Go for a run/gym, run until you are about to die and forgot the day and trading.
3. Take one day off from trading or even thinking about it
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JollyGreen
Posts: 2046
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 10:06 am

We all have tough things to deal with, bad days in the market being one of them. No matter what the event is we have to try and stop the worrying. The old saying is something like "It will happen if you worry and it will happen if you don't worry so why worry at all?"

Yes, that all sounds a bit simplistic but it is also very true. I will try and give you my advice on this subject all based on real life.

I used to worry about silly things and became angry and upset. When I first started trading I would get very down if I had a bad session and would blame everything and everyone for it. I would also beat myself up for being so stupid but it didn't help. Peter will confirm I was going to chuck in the towel because it all seemed unfair.

Then I found Krav Maga and Akido and it helped me to relieve my stress and anger. Sadly, that could only work for so long because another bad day in the markets would set me off again. It was clearly a mental issue so I had to deal with it.

In 2010 I had a car accident and damaged my spine. I then had a brain issue where I had permanent vertigo and dizziness. I was also diagnosed with an incurable condition and all things being equal I could have and should have self imploded.

In early 2011 I decided I was not going to let it worry me any more. It was literally a "f*** it!" moment and I realised I had to forget it and live one day at a time. I forgot about yesterday, I didn't think about tomorrow and suddenly my whole life changed. I am not religious but I like the Zen outlook on life.

So that all sounds like mumbo jumbo and that I am singing my own praises. Trust me I am not. I am no different to the next man I just had to change my habits. How do you do that?

You cannot change the impulse part of a habit but you can change the resulting action of that impulse. The most simple version is trying to lose weight. You get that impulse to eat something you shouldn't or drink something you shouldn't. You can choose whatever you like, let's say Chocolate. You know how that impulse feels and it is highly unlikely you will stop it. The thing to do is to change the reward (outcome) of that impulse. Instead of reaching for chocolate, grab a piece of fruit or something other than chocolate. It will not take long for your habit process to change because you will trick your brain into forgetting the chocolate. Hold up, it's not that easy I hear you cry. No, of course is isn't it requires work from you but I can assure you there is more chance this way than trying to resist the impulse!

So when you have a bad day and get angry, upset, depressed etc just change the action you perform. So when you feel the impulse building simply go for a walk, go the kitchen and put the kettle on, watch TV for 5 minutes, read a chapter in a book. Act on the impulse with a new thing and it will not take long before it becomes normal. At first it's hard so you must keep doing it and then your brain will see "the walk", "the book" as its expected reward and you will not get angry.

Try it, you will be pleasantly surprised.

Good luck

JG
stueytrader
Posts: 863
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2015 6:47 pm

Great posts, both above too.

And Green Giant - wow, there are some tough things in there, so well done on getting back on track for sure.

I do sense the theme of physical exercise as a key feature in many of these replies. Just to update, I took stock last night, and began again today very calmly - had a steady day of trading so far with a sensible profit. That's good enough for me today.
stueytrader
Posts: 863
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2015 6:47 pm

Had to highlight this sentence you wrote Green Giant - excellent:

You cannot change the impulse part of a habit but you can change the resulting action of that impulse.

I use that thought not to chase.
The dog of ry
Posts: 262
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2014 2:17 am

I have a 'little black book' in my top drawer. It's just a diary, with a yearly planner page. Every day when I finish, I make myself fill out the day, with either my profit or loss. Profits are highlighted yellow, losing days are highlighter pink. When I first started, it was a real mixture of yellow's and pink's. As time has gone by, It is noticeably more yellow, and I now have 'runs' of yellow days.

Even when I have to finish a day with the pink felt tip pen, I still see a lot of yellow and that seems to take the edge off.

If I have a couple of losing day's I always start to question my ability, but to be able to see success in such a simple way really helps. Hope you can find a trick that works too, best of luck
giulio2010
Posts: 962
Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 9:11 am

I cannot teach what to do after a bad day, we all have a different sentivity but I can tell you that a double portion of spaghetti was doing the job for me..I was fortunat not to put weight though!!
One day my mentor told me: I dont mean to be disrespectful and by any means please don't think I am treating you like a stupid person but let me ask you a question...
Is it better to have zero euro on your account tomorrow or 1 euro on your account tomorrow? I have thought, ok she thinks I am stupid :lol: and I have replied, 1 euro of course..she said, ok so stick with the plan then.
She meant the bank management and the rules we discussed before approaching the game. Of course depending of the market..In horses thinks can change quite fast so you need to bend some rules, in Football is more straight forward, in other words the statistics are quite accurate year in and year out. Like this you have a bigger picture in mind and start look for bad year or good year not anymore a bad day or a good day..
P.S. I still love spaghetti a lot :lol:
stueytrader
Posts: 863
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2015 6:47 pm

The dog of ry wrote:I have a 'little black book' in my top drawer. It's just a diary, with a yearly planner page. Every day when I finish, I make myself fill out the day, with either my profit or loss. Profits are highlighted yellow, losing days are highlighter pink. When I first started, it was a real mixture of yellow's and pink's. As time has gone by, It is noticeably more yellow, and I now have 'runs' of yellow days.

Even when I have to finish a day with the pink felt tip pen, I still see a lot of yellow and that seems to take the edge off.

If I have a couple of losing day's I always start to question my ability, but to be able to see success in such a simple way really helps. Hope you can find a trick that works too, best of luck
Like that approach - I have something similar in looking back further when I have a bad run, so that hopefully I can always see that I'm making profits if I look back enough beyond an especially bad day or few days. I think that does help. Of course, it's more difficult when you have a really bad day - may need to look back further for the profits then.
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