This is a good video that can help explaining why transition from sim trading to trading with real money takes some planning and efforts to smooth out the process. My advice – treat sim trading as seriously as you can similar to what pilots do while in training with their flight simulators. This will make sim trading working to your advantage instead of implanting bad trading habits.
Jonathan Bricker: The Secret to Self Control
Jonathan Bricker is a researcher on behavioural change. His work shows that discipline alone is not enough to induce changes on negative behaviours or habits. Instead, having a strategy based on acceptance and commitment allows for much better chance of success in permanent behavioural changes.
For traders who have impulsive behaviour like over trading and deviation from their trading plan during trading, it is a good introduction on what is necessary to correct the behaviour.
Debra Searle: Choose Your Attitude
Ms. Searle’s moving video tells us her story of courage and ability to cope with adverse scenarios. What she suggests in the video in dealing with life difficulties is equally applicable to trading. Many traders are aware of the importance of their psychological well being but few are aware of their attitudes can negatively impact their trading performance.
One notable attitude many people holds is that losing is a bad thing. The generalization of the word losing in the minds of many people make them feel bad whenever they have a losing trade. The negative attitude towards losing is triggered involuntarily. That in turn increases frustrations and affect the ability to make sound decisions.
Our attitudes towards losing and winning is not something we can get rid of easily. It is partly ingrained in our genes and partly programmed into us from our childhood. Learning to get rid of the negative feeling towards losing trades is already tough enough. So, is there an alternative solution?
At the end of the video, Ms. Seale made a very interesting point on how she practices the enforcement of positive attitude everyday during her solo journey. Her discovery is confirmed by others that similar practice of promoting positive thoughts can help us overcome unexpected adversities with better responses. In other words, the impact of negative attitudes may surface but we can choose to use positive attitudes to overcome the undesirable emotional response.
Isn’t trading a bottom line driven business, for which our ability to handle unexpected situations (where there are many nowadays) is often overlooked and not conditioned enough? If you find that being your weaknesses, you should give Ms. Searle’s suggestions a try.
