How do you feel today?
When you're a trader, this is a question you should ask yourself each and every day.
If you feel discouraged, step back. If you feel overoptimistic, step back. If you feel sad, step back. If you feel today you must make a lot of money because you need to urgently pay a bill, step back.
Do you know what you should feel before hitting that Buy or Sell? Nothing.
This is the hardest part. You can read tons of books about technical analysis, markets, psychology, and whatever, but there's something you can't learn from books. And it's knowing yourself so deeply that you manage to feel nothing.
You manage to remove all your feelings, all your concerns, and joy from that trade.
Feelings put you in a specific state of mind. Your state of mind will influence your decision.
Sometimes you can do right, but you know what? The next time, by remembering your positive experience, you might take the wrong decision.
Emotional Detachment
This emotional detachment is not about becoming robotic; it's about achieving a state of clarity and objectivity.
Trading on emotions, whether they are positive or negative, clouds judgment. The euphoria of a win can be just as dangerous as the despair of a loss.
Both states of mind can lead to impulsive decisions, and in trading, impulsiveness often equals mistakes.
Achieving emotional detachment in trading is a continuous journey. It involves constant self-awareness and discipline.
Strategies
Here are a few strategies that have helped me over the years:
- Mindfulness Practices: Incorporating mindfulness and meditation into my daily routine has been instrumental. It helps center my thoughts and emotions, allowing me to approach trading with a calm and clear mind.
- Journaling: Keeping a trading journal where I record my trades, the reasons behind them, and my emotional state at the time has been invaluable. It helps identify patterns in my behavior and improve my strategies.
- Regular Breaks: Taking regular breaks from trading, especially after a significant win or loss, helps reset my emotional state. It prevents me from making knee-jerk reactions based on my recent experiences.
Trading is about mastering one's own mind.
Emotional detachment in trading isn't about suppressing feelings but about achieving a state of mental clarity and balance.
And in this clarity, true trading wisdom is found.
#EmotionalInvesting #EmotionalControl #emotional #EmotionalIntelligence