Trader_Zen

For my notes only. Not trading or investment advice.

[Trader_Zen @ZenTrader882]

As a trader, it is paramount that you understand that you are not your thoughts.

Most of your thoughts, especially your fears, are lies and illusions with no solid basis in reality.

If you really contemplate the ramifications of this, your #trading will improve.

#TradingTips

[Trader_Zen @ZenTrader882]

@EliteOptions2 For something like 0DTE and other short duration options, this makes sense. But for futures, no way.

[Trader_Zen @ZenTrader882]

Don't underestimate the power of seemingly small changes. They can pack a big punch!

Very often, just one or two 'small' changes or insights can completely turn around your trading.

#TradeWithIntention

[Goshawk Trades @GoshawkTrades]

I was a losing trader for almost 2 years.

Then a few small pivots in my process led me to be consistently profitable for these past 4 years.

Here’s what I changed:

[Trader_Zen @ZenTrader882]

If you aren't following @baynkr, you are missing out!

I've often thought that my outer trading process is just a reflection of my inner game, but now that I've had a chance to reflect, Ryan is right and it's the opposite!

As many of you with trading experience know all to well, the more discretionary your trading process, the greater the drain on your mental and emotional reserves.

Set the rules in advance of your trade, and then you can focus on the price action instead of deciding how you are going to execute the trade.

What may seem simple when you are not trading, can become very complex when you are in the thick of the trading action. And the more variables that you are jugging in your head, the greater the chance of a mistake.

So be very clear and specific about your trading process.

#TradingExecution #TradingPsychology #Discipline

[Ryan Wright @baynkr]

Most "psychological" trading problems are symptoms of weak or ambiguous processes.

Weak process → uncertainty → stress → impulsiveness → losses → emotional damage.

Clear process → less ambiguity → lower stress → disciplined decisions → consistency.

Your inner game is a reflection of your outer process.

Your psychology can’t outperform your process.

[Trader_Zen @ZenTrader882]

There are no special moves in trading.

[Yumi🌸 @samuraipips358]

There is no need to lament having missed an entry.

It only means you failed to collect one data point for your sample set.
It just means you have been delayed by one trade in the process of your sample size gradually growing to 50, 100, and so on.

Even if that one trade would have resulted in a large profit had you taken it, it is nothing more than a single trade.

Finding great significance in just one trade is proof that you still lack a probabilistic mindset and have a short-term perspective; having that kind of mindset is a far bigger problem than missing the trade itself.

[Trader_Zen @ZenTrader882]

It's very important to reward yourself for following your trading rules, even if that means you lost money on a trade.

You want to repeatedly associate doing the right thing with rewards.

That's how you train your subconscious.

#TradingPsychology #Subconscious

[Trader_Zen @ZenTrader882]

Just remember, greed is fear, my friends.

If you are greedy as a trader, that means that you are fearful there won't be enough opportunities in the future, so you are chasing to grab as much as you can now.

That is not the reality of markets. There are always an abundance of opportunities. You just need to wait patiently for the ones that line-up with your trading plan.

#Trading #Abundance #GreedisFear

[Trader_Zen @ZenTrader882]

If you want to be a trader, you have to focus on the long game.

Trader development is not something that should be measured in weeks or months. It takes years to develop the probabilistic mindset necessary to sustain success over decades.

Many of the successful traders on FinX took at least 5 years before they became consistently profitable. And there are many more that took 10 or more years.

It's really no different than becoming an expert surgeon, tax attorney, or investment banker.

Ironically, those with a long-term development mindset in trading become successful a lot faster than those that are short-term oriented.

In order to go fast, you must go slow.

#TraderDevelopment #TraderMindset

[Trader_Zen @ZenTrader882]

What is worse than blowing up an account? It's blowing up an account on Friday when you were up and trading well the rest of the week.

Now, your weekend is ruined.

It is a major alpha-level skill to rest when you are tired and fatigued.

Keep this in mind the next time you are tempted to break your rules, especially if this happens on a Friday.

#TradingPsychology

[Trader_Zen @ZenTrader882]

I'm speaking from personal experience. I was chasing a lot of different patterns and styles and thought you needed a lot to be consistently profitable.

But as Linda Raschke says, you only need to master 1 pattern to be a good trader.

It would've saved me a lot of time if I knew this at the beginning.

[Trader_Zen @ZenTrader882]

When you are first starting out as a trader, I think it is vital that you focus on one style or even just one pattern and master it.

Once you achieve consistent profitability, then you can experiment and build on that expertise.

Otherwise, you run the risk of considerably lengthening the amount of time it takes for you to be cash flow positive from your trading.

For all practical purposes, there are an infinite amount of indicators and trading styles that you can adopt.

The number 1 mission for the beginning trader is to find the style that resonates with you and to optimize it to get cash flow positive as soon as possible.

#Trading #CashFlow

[Trader_Zen @ZenTrader882]

Wiggins is an awesome POA and all-around talent. And with Jimmy, he won't have as much pressure to score and be that second consistent scoring option. We all know he can put points on the board quickly. And the attention that Curry and Jimmy will get will make it easier for Wiggs to score as well.

[Trader_Zen @ZenTrader882]

The more leverage you use, the harder it will be to honor your stops.

Keep that in mind the next time you are tempted to drastically up your size.

There is never any need to rush.

#Trading #Leverage

[Trader_Zen @ZenTrader882]

There are two things that are relatively simple to do that will give you a massive psychological advantage in the markets.

First, be very patient on entries. That is your first line of defense. It is true that random entries, with a disciplined exit strategy, can still produce consistent profitability. However, taking entries when your high quality setup is not present is mentally and emotionally draining as subsequent price action is most likely to be choppy with little follow-through. So protect your mental capital and only spend it on high quality entries.

Second, size way down. Prop firms typically like to broadcast account sizes that bear no relation to how much capital you actually have to trade. For example, a $150k account may have a max drawdown of $5k. You don't have a $150k account starting out. You have a $5k account and you should trade with this in mind. Sizing down in your trades can cover a multitude of trading mistakes. There is an epidemic of traders that use way too much size. Just be sizing appropriately, you will be among the top 1% of the FinX trading community.

#Trading #Patience #SizeDown

[Trader_Zen @ZenTrader882]

You can't trust your 'feel' or 'intuition' in trading until you've had at least 10,000 hours of screen time.

That will normally take several years for most traders.

[Trader_Zen @ZenTrader882]

In order to go fast, you must take it slow.

Experienced traders know this on a visceral level.

[Trader_Zen @ZenTrader882]

Think about this. The principle is what matters.

It is popular to say less is more in trading.

But don't just trade less just for the sake of trading less. Especially if you are not taking your A+ setups just because you are being intellectually lazy and blindly following a heuristic with no empirical validation.

#Trading #TradeYourPlan

[Trader_Zen @ZenTrader882]

@samuraipips358 This is something I have said for a long time. It's great that you are emphasizing it now.

[Trader_Zen @ZenTrader882]

This is a reminder that volatility can be very seductive.

It's very easy to imagine your 'profits' if you had only taken a position here or exited there instead of focusing on your trading plan.

There is never any rush in trading. Remind yourself of this when the greed and FOMO hit.

#Greed #FOMO #Trading