I once had a long conversation with a professional athlete on what makes him so successful. We also spoke about how he manages to get out of bed at 4.30 am every morning. And he told me that he just doesn’t get into arguments with himself in his head. He just doesn’t go there. As soon as the alarm goes off his feet are swinging out of bed focusing on the next task of making coffee.
As soon as your trade hits the stop limit, don’t overthink it, no arguments, don’t even go there, just do it, leave that trade behind and focus on the next setup; you will be a better trader for it.
Of course, this doesn’t come naturally nor easily. It needs to be practiced in all other areas of life and once this has become a way of being it will come naturally in trading. For example, I practice the ‘no arguments with myself in my head’ behaviour every morning when I have a cold shower. In the past I would stay much longer under my nice warm shower because I dreaded the cold shower finish line. Nowadays, I don’t even allow my mind to go there, I have my shower and simply turn on the cold water, no arguments, no hesitation, it has become ingrained in my behaviour, and oh it feels as good afterwards as taking charge and closing out a losing position, leaving the past behind, creating a new better future.
I hope this is helpful,
With a toast to your trading profits
