Trading and Ego

thread: Trading and Ego

  1. #1

    Trading and Ego

    Does your ego get in the way of your trading? After a couple of wins do you think your entire days you can't fail and move on to lose gains? Here we examine self control and how to control it when trading.

    Imagine a stage populated by the main characters that include your inner decision making committee. It's a brief odds bet that the loudest shout for leading man / woman will come in the self. Brushing aside requests and rationality for inclusion the self will pronounce his or her pre-eminence and sieze control.

    Trading is a magnet for self. It is full of promise and challenge and all enjoy a scrap that is fantastic,particularly when the odds are stacked against them and they have a sniff of heroism from the air. Statistics that confirm that only 10-20percent of traders are internet winners that are consistent are music to the ears of the ego. No self respecting ego might countenance the prospect of being in the world of the also conducted, those poor, impoverished capable 80-90%.

    So, the battle commences and continues until the self has been shown a yellow card and has to have some sobering time out. Receding into the shadows the self usually brings with it an account equilibrium.

    Learning to develop into a superb, always successful trader needs that which might be termed an egodectemy. The market, with time, has lots of chances to execute surgery that is effective. But, at first the individual isn't usually receptive to his or her diagnosis. The market, as it does in its own offhandedly waytosses a few arrows and more slings and eventually the ego runs for cover out, though still, naturally, on the defensive. A evaluation as befits the usurper, skulks off in search of terrain that is adapting.

    Paradoxically, the self enjoys its separateness yet cleaves towards an insatiable appetite for belonging that can't be expressed. It refutes team games unless it could be Captain and hijacks any effort at which it could walk its strident talk. The ego mini dramas condemn it to have,at best vision of exactly what could be happening elsewhere, especially the market, with predictably dire consequences. Together with the ego in the head trader's seat the drive for actions will be overriding,for your ego both needs and loves being in the thick of the activity, all of the merits marketwise.

    The self has a voracious appetite and overtrading is its own soulfood.

    Yum,Yum.

    Let's be under no illusions. The self is a destructive force in our own trading. It is disposed to trigger astrophe given half a opportunity and manages to trip us up over and over again. Errors that Jesse Livermore talked about's cousins and brothers were relatives in the self family.

    Regardless of that about our trading skills balance sheet the self is really a permanent tenant in the accountability column, the asset column being considerably overshadowed until it reaches the light.

    Where there's a will however, there's a way. The way of this knowingly undertaken egodectemy, self sought and handled. We call our asset column forward to shine the moment we call time about the proclaimed predominance of the ego. Through the mist the vision gets thinner,there's more space and we could advertise our under new management sign above our trading station.

    The receding noise of this self facilitates the growing presence of quieter attributes such as intuition. Intuition is perhaps the yin to the ego's yang, the passive to the active. Unlike the self that announces itself with immediate urgency, intuition presents itself effacingly.

    It does not require the ego's fanfare. It attempts no reward or acknowledgement, grinds no axes and carries no agenda. If we empower our intuition and could learn how to encourage it could become our greatest trading tool [assuming it is used in conjunction ]. Our intuition speaks to us as we all learn to listen to ourselves. A experience that is distilled is brought by it to its secrets. As we listen our profitability increases.

    So how can the self accept pretenders to its throne such as intuition?

    It will likely attempt to spam intuition's inbox and ster its speculative spores in order to wrest back its evaporating grasp. Intuition isn't exempt from egos predatory heartbeat. To the self,all is fair game. So because the requirement to be vigilant in tracking our transactions we have to be vigilant for contaminations by the ego. Being of character, intuition demands some amount of protection.

    Maybe I stand accused of laying a lot of ills and grievances in the ego's door but I'd rather be guilty of the than of watching my account get mullered because of a lack of discriminatory self awarenesss.

    For trading mastery, read 24/7 self monitor. There is no teabreaks carefree moments of reverie, or laughter [apart from the gallows variety] because the ego's auditor. It's not a job for the faint of heart. The ego and its own conspiratorial cohort combine forces as account assassins to best effect when concentration and discrimination are at a low ebb, like it or not.

    The ego's toolkit, though insidious and pervasive, can be neutered and rendered inefficient with patience, practice and persistence. It becomes simpler with practiced understanding to identify those transactions that are initiated by the self, its own trading ASBO's become increasingly visible. For, the real deal is that the ego isn't really terribly bright. Confronting it and gradually stripping out its stranglehold could be a satisfying, enjoyable and increasingly profitable procedure.

    Prioritising intuition allows for the slow evolution of confidence which in turn allows for intuitive insights to be produced concrete as signs to act upon. Acting upon them and trusting ourselves and our signs supports the process of decision making. Maybe a few of these decisions may reflect a counter intuitive approach buy hey, let's not get ahead of ourselves . Running before you can walk is among the most cherished mantras of the ego.

    Going contrary to the destitute impulses of the self is usually very valuable, whatever the monetary outcome because it affirms that we are in charge and responsible. Of course, intuition is only one of the skills available to counter the danger of the ego and itself isn't infallible,in trading or elsewhere. But it can be our alarm , our standby and our alert on call for us if we give it space. Trading does not preclude mistakes. In the core of the zone the collective mind is not fully visible and when it was we be blissed we'd shut our commerce. But intuition does give us a border that is private and could be developed further.

    The art of this chart is in the heart as well as the eye. After we stop looking so hard we could begin to see and then we close our eyes and trust and could put on a transaction. Working out an approach to the market by an intuitive standpoint isn't an exact science but when we can receive exactly what the market gives us, process it and extract its own kernels of knowledge then perhaps we have a opportunity to thrive, an opportunity to meld our confections of want into success.


    Martin Laurence Kemp is an experienced, qualified facilitator/coach using a variety of years full time trading experience. His focus is on very liquid stocks, big cap , primarily using CFDs, however he has traded SP emini futures and FTSE.

    Martin offers you to one and group training sessions and workshops that focus on the plogical dynamics of trading. You can contact Martin by visiting his site at http://www.tradingcoach.co.uk/

  2. #2
    Nothing Related to ego...
    Everything Related to cognitive dissonance

  3. #3
    Junior Member salah23fa's Avatar
    1
    The market always has a way of playing with our emotions (fear, greed, and impatient), enticing us to make instant decisions...
    the only means to counter this (thus enhancing our mental abilities ) would be to Plan the trade and Trade the plan consistently...

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