Discipline. My view.

When you start up trading, the first thing you do, is trying to find some info about the market. You google betfair trading, trading, how to trade anf watch million of videos about trading and other traders advice. 

 

Almost everyone of them will at some point tell you that it is very important to have discipline when you trade! And since everyone is telling you this, most people dont sit down and think about what it really means to have discipline when trading.

 

When you say the word discipline, almost everybody combine it with taking your losses and dont gamble. Correct, that is an easy one to say. But what is discipline really and how much do i use it in my daily trading? Well here is my view on the word.

 

Well, discipline, or self-discipline as i prefer to look at it, means a lot in my daily trading. I have some techniques that really depend on me and that i am strong enough to stick to them. I know that my techniques work on paper, and most techniques do work on paper, the problem comes when you have to use them in real life. More than often people tend to look through some of the rules that the techniques are based on, and that is why most people fail or give up on them.

Remember, you can always condition your behaviour by visualizing it over and over again. 

 

I know that most people have tried to gamble in trading. Sitting and hoping for the price to move their way without taking the loss as they should be doing. 

Another scenario is when you have buid up a great profit during the day, you loose concentration and you find youself stuck in the market with a minus. 

What to do?

Should i take the loss and be satisfied with the smaller profit, or should i hope for the price to move back?

 

Many people see the already made profit in their head, as a number that they are about to pay out! BUT, if the last race goes against them, then this number is ruined! And just imagening this number being lower than one already expected it to be, is often the reason to a bad decision! That is why most people dont like to take these losses. 

 

My advice to people stuck with this problem, as i know many of you are:

 

Tell yourself: Would i trust this decision that i am about to make with 1 million dollars if possible? If not, why do it? 

Am i being professional by hoping for the price to move back? No i am not. I am not strong enough if i dont take the loss. 

 

As soon as you let it roll, and start "hoping" for it to come back. Tell yourself loud: I am now gambling. It may not mean a lot now, but when you tell yourself this sentence loud, you will eventually pick up the right way of thinking. And this can by time give you the discipline neded on this area.

 

 

I always tell myself when i make a wrong decision, that i should be embarrassed of myself not being strong enough to take the right decision. I did this for a long time, and after some months, this was just natural for me. Whenever i saw myself stuck in the market, i started thinking this way and that it would lead to me being weak enough to let the loss run, which after sometime became a great problem solver for me. My brain made some right patterns that got stuck after time. Instead of taking the easy wrong decision.

I am not saying this would work for everyone, but it worked for me, because the punishment was big enough. 

So find a way to punish yourself that really works whenever you make a mistake and stick to it. It will put you in the right way of thinking over time. I know it sound a bit "set up", but it works, cause that is the way our brain works. 

 

 

Discipline for me is all about having control over my emotions. Its easy to say that discipline is taking a loss, but can you control the emotion stuck to the scenario of taking a loss? That is the real problem. Work with your personal evolution, everyone of us is able to take the decisions we want to, so why take the wrong ones.

 

Final word from me: