What are you analyzing? How do you make your trading decisions? I’m sure some of you will say, ‘I don’t think, I just trade what I see’…or you think that’s what you’re supposed to do.
How’s it working out for you? The reason I ask is that if you are a discretionary trader it means you are using your judgment to make a decision, not relying on a system to tell you what to do. Oh, but wait, aren’t we supposed to have rules or criteria that tell us what to do? Ah, the dilemma that discretionary traders face.
Are you a discretionary trader or are you trading an automated system?
We’ve all heard this old adage many times, ‘Trade what you see, not what you think’. But is it good advice? Is it practical advice for a discretionary trader?
It might be good advice if it was possible to act as a robot! Admittedly, I’ve probably uttered this line in the past myself, its such an easy out, but its not very accurate.
We are not robots. Yes, there are times when you are relatively unencumbered by your ‘issues’ and you trade well, but most of the time for most traders our brain is doing a lot of thinking….and worrying…..and……fantasizing. And what many people don’t realize is that thinking is inextricably tied in with emotions. And emotions can trump will power. So, if you’ve been trying to change how you think or control or thoughts or improve your willpower but you’re not seeing much progress, I highly recommend you learn to work with emotions as well.
Dilemma indeed. Letting one’s implicit memory (self 2) overcome one’s active, critical thinking (self 1) is by far the most challenging activity I have ever undertaken.
Yes, it’s what makes trading difficult for many people. And a big part of the solution is learning about how our emotions work. Emotions are messengers or a bridge from the subconscious to the conscious process. Trading can be an incredibly powerful vehicle for personal growth if we let it…and if we we do the work of analyzing emotions.
Andrew