On Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:48:24 +0530 (IST), Meerut Money Managers
<
meerutmoneymanagers@yahoo.in> wrote:
> Perfectionism
> Trading is not about perfection. It is about probability and progress.
All
> charts, analyses (fundamental and technical) and trading plans are built
on
> probabilities.
> Why then, do so many traders strive for perfection? Why do so many
traders
> miss trades, waiting for exactly the right entry and then beat up on
> themselves when it doesn't come and the position runs away while they
sit
> there scratching their heads and condemning themselves?
> Why are so many traders trying to turn a game of probability into one of
> 100% certainty?
> The answer lies in one of the cardinal sins of trading which is
> PERFECTIONISM.
> Perfectionism can be a great help to people in many professions, but can
be
> fatal to a trader. Perfectionists, always trying to find the Holy Grail
of
> trading go from one service to another, from one system to another,
looking
> for a way that they can be right all the time. YES! Now, I found it.
It's
> this trading room, or this service, or this indicator! Wait… something
is
> wrong here. Not all of these trades are working and I have draw downs!
How
> can it be that this particular method failed and I actually had to take a
> loss? Must be something wrong. I will try harder and look for an even
> better system, a more expensive service, a new and improved guru, some
> absolutely no-fail software so that I can have ONLY WINNING TRADES.
> This is perfectionism in action. Not only does this type of irrational
> behavior and belief undermine and demoralize a trader, but it takes away
> all the enjoyment and fun of being in the markets. It leads to depression
> with depletion of psychic and physical energy, and leaves the
perfectionist
> to confront his basic and overriding fear— fear of failure. In the
> extreme, it leads to physical and mental illness, including addiction to
> prescription drugs, alcohol, or illegal substances as well as other
> addictions. The pain of failure or the haunting fear of failure is simply
> overwhelming, and one turns to whatever works to medicate the pain.
> If you have a perfectionist mentality when trading, you are setting
> yourself up for failure, because it is a "given" that you will
> experience losses along the way. You must begin to think of trading as a
> game of probability. Your losses ( that you hope will return to
breakeven)
> will kill you. If you cannot take a loss when it is small ( because of
the
> need to be perfect), then you will watch that small loss grow into a
larger
> loss and so on into a vicious cycle of more and more pain for the
> perfectionist. Trading on hope does not work. The markets can remain
> irrational for a lot longer than you can remain solvent.
> The object should be excellence in trading, not perfection. Moreover, it
is
> essential to strive for excellence over a sustained period, as opposed to
> judging that each trade must be excellent. This is a marathon…not a
> sprint.
> The greatest traders know how to take cut losses and let winning
positions
> run. Perfectionists often do exactly the opposite. They get in at the
wrong
> time, stay in too long and then get out the wrong time. Perfectionists
are
> always striving and never arriving. The market will find the flaw in a
> perfectionist trader and exploit it day after day. The market is your
> greatest teacher and your most demanding critic, so take this wonderful
> opportunity every day to learn about yourself and make yourself strong.
> If you see in yourself this trait of perfectionism rearing its ugly head,
> it's OK to get angry at it and even yell or curse at it. Do whatever it
> takes to acknowledge it and then find a way to fix it.
> Here are a few suggestions:
> * Try to appreciate and enjoy the process as well as the outcome.
> * Set more achievable and realistic goals for your trading.
> * Remember that your self-worth and your worth as a human being to those
> who love you does not fluctuate from day to day depending on if you win
or
> lose that day.
> * Focus less on achievement and more on enjoyment. Trading is serious,
but
> it should be fun and not something which one approaches with fear and
> dread.
> * Lighten up. Laugh more (especially at yourself).
> * Learn from your mistakes, and forgive yourself and make peace with
your
> past. Strive to be better…not perfect…just a amazing human work in
> progress.
> "If we were always to wait for the most favorable combination of
> circumstances, no enterprise would ever be undertaken. There can be no
end
> without a beginning–there was never an enterprise in which everything
> fitted in perfectly, for chance plays a leading part in the affairs of
all
> men. Obedience to rule does not ensure success, but success, on the other
> hand, furnishes a canon – a rule of conduct" ~ Napoleon Bonaparte
> THANKS & REGARDS
>
>
> MEERUT MONEY MANAGERS (MMM)
>
www.meerutmoneymanagers.com >
>
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