Not many psychology posts :(

Trading is often about how to take the appropriate risk without exposing yourself to very human flaws.
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boardrep
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Im not that surprised that its not discussed more regularly even though as above its been said it is one of the fundemental building blocks of a successful trader and actually of a character in general.
IMO its a fabulous subject but one that is so complex as most human beings are generally unaware of or are not prepared to accept their own personal emotions and their reactions to surprise /threatening events (albeit a fairly less than life threatening red screeen from no where in this case)
Secondly the ones that are fortunate enough to be aware are generally not trained to react any differently to what is "their own natural instinct".We all ,based upon our desires ,life situation etc ,have stress points where we will react differently than to when the situation is less stressful.
As everything in life it requires awareness and acceptance of the issue and your own natural reaction to that situation ,"YOUR" stressful moment (this will change depending upon how serious your subconcious feels the situation is then a willingness to change and work at the solution by training yourself to make better decisions under pressure assuming of course you know what the correct decision should be :)
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Euler
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There is a playlist on You Tube on Bet Angel TV: -

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... X99E3LcabF
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jimibt
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boardrep - i definitely think that once you understand your weaknesses, you can go about addressing them. from a psychological perspective, i fare badly when trading manually. i thus took steps to mitigate my bad habits and in the end had to accept that for me, the only way to operate was from the outside. i thus spent 6 months labouring over simple balanced automation rules to do my bidding for me. it's a compromise as you can't ask it to make decisions that you intuitively see on screen in front of you, but in balance, it's allowed me to still be talking here today as a BA user!

so 100% - know yourself, tame your demons :D
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boardrep
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Hi Jimibt
In order to still be trading after a period you must find way to adapt and make the best of your current skill and mind set,something which you appear to have done.I guess its now looking to the next level of improvement.The long time past and present contributor members have been more than useful in mine to date and will be going forward.
I have followed most of your posts with interest, thank you for sharing some of your thoughts, we can all learn in some way from eachother and hopefully progress.
stueytrader
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Euler wrote:There is a playlist on You Tube on Bet Angel TV: -

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... X99E3LcabF
I've watched some of your videos on this area, good stuff. Not a massive Youtube user so apols if not responded to those on there.

You mentioned Steve Peters book (Chimp Paradox) I noticed - definitely get that idea in relation to the 'tilt' I had yesterday. His idea of the chimp mind taking over is definitely highly applicable to both gambling and trading as an area of human behaviour. When I have gone on tilt, I know that this animal and emotional side has completely taken over my trading. Difficulty is stopping it at that point, because the control side of thinking has not got as much of a say.
I wonder if Steve Peters has done any work specifically on gambling or trading? Might be worth a look.
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CLOWNSHOES
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I've been reading a bit about weiners attribution theory this week. I saw a sport psychologist saying it was the mindset of many a champion but i couldnt help draw paralells to problem gamblers i know.


According to attribution theory, high achievers will approach rather than avoid tasks related to succeeding because they believe success is due to high ability and effort which they are confident of. Failure is thought to be caused by bad luck or a poor exam, i.e. not their fault. Thus, failure doesn't affect their self-esteem but success builds pride and confidence.
Iron
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LeTiss 4pm wrote:There used to be lots, but that was primarily driven by Ferru, who seemed fascinated by this

I have said many, many times on this forum - "the difference between a successful trader and a bankrupt one, is what they do when faced with a red screen"
That's fair comment.

My advice to anyone who finds this game psychologically difficult is - quit. Either that, or find a way of rewiring your mind so it's not so difficult (but 99% of people won't even try in my opinion - they want change, but they don't want to change).

Life is very short. Yesterday, my dad was out walking the dog. He died suddenly and totally unexpectedly. You don't know when you'll run out of moments, so enjoy the ones that you have.

If trading gives you pleasure, and you're making money or not losing an unaffordable amount of money - great, I'm genuinely pleased for you.

But if it's a compulsion, and you're getting stressed and losing money, stepping out of the arena and saying 'this isn't for me, at least not yet' might be the best option.

No, I'm not back to posting, before you ask. :) As you can imagine, I'm feeling a bit down at the moment, so I think I naively thought I might find something in the forum to cheer me up! :lol: :)

Jeff
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LeTiss
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That's terrible news, Jeff

Sorry to hear that mate, but I doubt you'll find much cheer on here. It's basically full of bedwetters and problem gamblers

Best wishes
Iron
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:)

Thanks mate.

I was shocked when I heard the news, but I'm beginning to come to terms with it. It's one of those things, I guess.

It's cliched, but death gives live meaning, and puts things into perspective.

Jeff
LeTiss 4pm wrote:That's terrible news, Jeff

Sorry to hear that mate, but I doubt you'll find much cheer on here. It's basically full of bedwetters and problem gamblers

Best wishes
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Euler
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Sorry to hear that Jeff, if it's any comfort when my Mum died unexpectedly when I was young it galvanised me to be a different person. Simply because I realised I only have one shot at life and it could end at any moment.
Iron
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Thanks Peter

It would be tragic if this were the kick up the ass I needed to get my act together, but it may well be.

I remember your touching blog post about your father's passing some years ago. Like you, if I have to do a speech at the funeral, I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep myself together. At work, I can address 100 people without feeling any nerves, but this is a different proposition.

Jeff
Euler wrote:Sorry to hear that Jeff, if it's any comfort when my Mum died unexpectedly when I was young it galvanised me to be a different person. Simply because I realised I only have one shot at life and it could end at any moment.
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to75ne
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jeff,

sorry for your loss
Iron
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Thanks Tony.

Jeff
to75ne wrote:jeff,

sorry for your loss
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Euler
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Ferru123 wrote:It would be tragic if this were the kick up the ass I needed to get my act together, but it may well be.
When my Mum died I was 10. My family didn't have a bucket to piss in and my Dad went into a severe depression, not surprisingly, and was stuck between trying to bring up a family as a single parent and trying to earn enough to keep things going. Not very easy. I wasn't really trying very hard at school and had more or less resigned myself to never getting a decent job or being able to afford or be able to escape my circumstances.

But that shock just made me wake up and think, f**k this. It wasn't immediate though as I went through a period of complete confusion as everything fell down around me. But ultimately that's what's driven me ever since. I just wanted a better life and was prepared to work really hard to get it and to fulfil my dreams.

My attitude to risk also shifted. I learnt to lose the fear of making mistakes because I realised that was actually the way you move forward, by learning from your mistakes. If you try and avoid error and risk you never move forward. You just rot.
Iron
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Euler wrote:If you try and avoid error and risk you never move forward. You just rot.
Thanks Peter.

I agree.

A famous trader once observed that life is nothing but a series of bets: If you don't bet you can't win, but if you run out of chips you can't bet.

I think that sums it up nicely - taking risks is great, as long as you don't bet the farm on the red.

Jeff
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