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In need of a coach/mentor/advice for keeping calm and confident in a trade
I am not sure where you got the idea that great traders "trade robot like". Does not trading imply making decisions under uncertainty and stress? How many jobs does expertise equate with robot likeness? Does not expertise equate more often with fine discrimination and discretion and nuance?
In my mind, great trading is associated more often with aggressiveness, a certain sense of carefree, and risk taking. It is almost reckless but it is can be tempered with experience and risk management-- which must be strict.
A few concepts that might help you though..
1. Global vs Local optimum. You have already stated that your account keeps dropping low and yet you probably know that the way you are trading can make it drop even lower. What you might be experience is a certain type of cognitive dissonance. The global optimum for your trading method will require a risk level beyond what is suitable for your account size. So, the question is whether or not there is a smaller stop that will allow the method to work well or if it might break the method entirely. This is something you'll have to figure out. But, trading a small account successfully often requires a higher degree of conservation. What you don't want to do and what often happens for traders in your situation is assuming you have a method that works -- to start trading scared with methods that don't work. If that's the case, you might want to go ahead top up. If you traded well in the past with a larger account and you are still trying to trade "great" in a new environment that is not best for you then you must drop the number of contracts you are trading. You can't trade great if you blow out.
2. On finer discrimination, many traders make cognitive errors because they aren't finely discriminating especially when it comes to fully thinking about their rules. For example, new traders often like to make lots of rules. But, then they will start to see opportunities where if they had broken the rules they would have made money. The problem is they are trying to create a rigid structure for a changing environment that is not structured. You might thus find that instead of rules to focus on principles of operation. Principles allow more flexibility then rules do.
1) Take your TIME to find a system that works for you
2) Invest TIME to optimize your stops. Find out the TIME when NOT to take any trade!
3) Let your trade develop - that takes TIME - without getting nervous (you had set your stop in advance - don't touch it)
If you do not get sufficient results - Invest more TIME to consider better approaches.
Think about how that helps.
After some positive results over time you will have a good TIME with your trading!
The real question is, what action(s) created the downfall in your account? that will most likely be your answer and save you the time and money from a coach.
If you have been trading for 8 years one would think you have your trades figured inside and out, did you break rules? was it a series of dumb mistakes that lead to your account DD? or was it something out of your normal, like a huge spike that you couldn't prevent during one of your normal trades that took your account into a DD?
By the sounds of it and no offence should be taken from this, you made some stupid trades and now your account is to small, what made your account go into DD? this will probably take awhile to figure out but is 100% part of trading and you needed to do this part it is important.
Just examples, you say you trade well in certain conditions ( volatility) so can you spot when its getting to those states and most important can you spot when its leaving that state?
Based on ur time frame of examples of volatility you should understand a very important factor, you have one edge, does it happen all the time, nope so is your trading plan figured out? nope.
If you really can spot volatility then realize that and grab some gears while in that state, when its out of it you have no edge and should be scaling back contract size until you figure out your edge in what you would classify non volatility markets. When you have a edge for those markets go back to maximizing on ur edge.
Once again no offence, but from the sounds of it you caught some rare moments and capitalized on it, this sentace only stems from the little info you gave. Think of the time in the markets when everyday markets went up when it all started to change, alot of those (professionals) blew up and could not adapt and alot of them talk about exactly that line. Who are (them)? ex floor traders, current floor traders, old farts. You can understand this part by watching vids or reading books of old floor traders, alot of them say this exact thing. I didn't know what to do next, i didn't know how to trade really even though at the time i thought i did.
Learn to adapt and change when necessary and TIME is a huge factor.
Ps i really like the TIME part.
Im not a pro, i trade demo's, ive spent the last i dunno anymore 4 years trying to find my spot. I've traded once live and made 5k in 7 days i think, trading one contract each trade i then blew that in 2 days averaging down by not accepting a loss, i say this only to give you some insight into myself to base your judgement of my reply.
One very important factor about time, you can spent 20 years spending "TIME" whats important about time is how you spend it or what you spend it on, @Rory and @GFIs1 made a perfect example, of that.
I'll give one example of wasted time from myself, I spent years looking at static charts, scrolling back looking for trading ideas. Getting ideas and then testing them out through static charts with very little forward testing I kept going in circles getting nowhere, now this is very important part for getting trade ideas but once you get it stop and start forward testing. I did this for so many years until one small little sentence from @Rory clicked in my head and that was him talking about spending almost a year just doing market replay 20 some hours a day.
I could go on and on, i think i may have overdone myself here hopefully you figure out what needs to be done.
Ok ill help with one more thing, your afraid of the loss because of ur account size right?
you could do anyone of the following in any order.
1: stop trading
2: add money
3: potentially go into DD again because you still dont know the main problem, what actions brought you to that account size? this is number one!!!!
4: go into market replay and spend months in there executing your trade plan, and do it to the tee, dont cut ur losses short or your profits, leave your stoploss at the right level and leave your target at its right level and go for it. Its fake money and its there to get your confidence back or find out your plan is shit.
Spend TIME going in circles taking the easy way I put the answer for going in circles, but ill let you figure that one out
OOOOR spend TIME doing the right thing which is not the easy way and will take alot of TIME at the start.
Which one you going to do?
