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My Journey to Psychological and Physical Health

  #1 (permalink)
 
ZTR's Avatar
 ZTR 
 
Experience: Advanced
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This is a going to be different kind of thread.
I am doing this using Dragon Naturally Speaking as I've had a very hard time typing.

What I'm going to talk about is my recovery from leukemia, my stem cell transplant & my eventual return to trading and I hope moderating. (I see there are 524 unread posts since my last thread reading)

Yesterday, I started a new drug: GABApentin. Helps with pain and spasms.
Allowed me this morning to take a bath and not worry about getting out of the tub.
Also went to the farmers market. The bounty I collected is shown in the figures.
So not only will I be eating right, will again be doing moderate walking.

Started reading the Daily Trading Coach by Brett Steenbarger again & How to Become a Stressfree Trader by Jason Stazec and Mark Crisp.

I got halfway through the daily trading coach. And now will go through the second half. Will be posting in the thread space linked above. While posting about becoming a stress-free trader here. Along with my other preparations to return to psychological physical health.

Reading Stressfree made me realize that when I am impaired I don't trade a plan. Having a plan is the only way to take total responsibility for your trading. So you plan must include a system that fits you . I have one. I just haven't been able to execute. Have said that for several months.

Both of these books talk about self talk and the importance of it being positive. Negative talk has no place in your plans.

So, the plan for the rest of the day is to finish the first six chapters of Stressfree Trader and then reread from lesson 26 on of the Daily Trading coach until I reach a reasonable stopping.

Once I finish this reading will post in the two threads.

Later, also hope to do some light walking again today.

Bought another photograph from my favorite artist Rodney Lough. Really love his work it is inspiring. I believe it's necessary to do things that make you happy as well as exercise and use positive self talk.

Saw a great post earlier about this and other positive reinforcement: Strongly suggest reading it.



R.I.P. Andy Zektzer (ZTR), 1960-2010.
Please visit this thread for more information.
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  #3 (permalink)
 syxforex 
British Columbia
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: NINJA
Broker: ZEN
Trading: Crude
Posts: 1,091 since May 2010


This sounds like a really good thread Andy! Thanks, I really like your introduction. I've got a plane ticket booked for next week and heading back up to the mountains. I am on a shoestring, will be looking for some kind of day job to pay the rent and food, but at the moment all I have is my trading, and you know what, here is some positive talk, I can do it.

I came to Big Mike's back in early May after getting burned repeatedly by a bucketshop fx broker. The system I had settled into is profitable but I wasn't able to get it done until now. I got into Ninja and found this site and some good friends, learned like crazy for a few more months, then went live, trading the Dow. Big mistake. Including my work experience in the interbank fx market, I have been living and breathing fx for more than two years now. This week was my first full week trading fx live again since late April. Amazingly, the system I am using is like a super version of the one I had back then, but essentially the same. And a great week it was. Had some great runs into the money, having the account up by 75% at one point on Thursday. Even after all the mistakes, I still came out of the week with five winning days and close to my goal for the week of 200/day.

I realize now the only holding me back from making money is me. It's all in my head now. I know what a perfect setup looks like. So then why do I find myself eating losses on trades that resemble the exact opposite. This is all mental. I need to be in the zone of total confidence and positive thinking, with good energy, strict targets, and most importantly, a clear line in the sand for closing down business for the day. If I had kept my trading to under 4 hours per day this week I would have seen a 150% return on the account. After 4hours, my trading head-state turns to jello... so, this week... until I fly on Thursday, I'm going to focus in on the plan, every aspect of it, and most importantly the psychology of execution. Can I borrow that book when you are done????

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  #4 (permalink)
 
ZTR's Avatar
 ZTR 
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: NinjaTrader7
Broker: Mirus RCG/Zen-Fire
Trading: CL & 6e, looking at ES, ZB and AU again.
Posts: 2,096 since Nov 2009
Thanks Given: 1,099
Thanks Received: 1,393


syxforex View Post
but at the moment all I have is my trading, and you know what, here is some positive talk, I can do it.

This week was my first full week trading fx live again since late April. Amazingly, the system I am using is like a super version of the one I had back then, but essentially the same. And a great week it was. Had some great runs into the money, having the account up by 75% at one point on Thursday. Even after all the mistakes, I still came out of the week with five winning days and close to my goal for the week of 200/day.

I realize now the only holding me back from making money is me. It's all in my head now. I know what a perfect setup looks like. So then why do I find myself eating losses on trades that resemble the exact opposite. This is all mental. I need to be in the zone of total confidence and positive thinking, with good energy, strict targets, and most importantly, a clear line in the sand for closing down business for the day. ...

I'm going to focus in on the plan, every aspect of it, and most importantly the psychology of execution. Can I borrow that book when you are done????

Once you are settled & I finish Stressfree send me your address and I will ship you that, Trading in the Zone & Trading from Your Gut by Curtis faith,

All have helped me.

Good luck Scott, it is all within you.

R.I.P. Andy Zektzer (ZTR), 1960-2010.
Please visit this thread for more information.
Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread
  #5 (permalink)
 
Fat Tails's Avatar
 Fat Tails 
Berlin, Europe
Market Wizard
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: NinjaTrader, MultiCharts
Broker: Interactive Brokers
Trading: Keyboard
Posts: 9,888 since Mar 2010
Thanks Given: 4,242
Thanks Received: 27,102

Andy, hope that you will recover well from your illness. As you said, it is a physical and psychological challenge. I cannot compare it to anything that I have lived through.

I love the two books of Brett Steenbarger (Daily Trading Coach and Enhancing Trader Performance). Have them next to my desk, so that I can re-read passages. That's the reason that I do not like e-books, it is easier to grab the real books and read them again. My library has three sections

- the books I am reading several times
- the books I have read only once and will not read again
- the anti-library (as Umberto Eco calls it), the books I have not read yet...

How does Dragon Naturally Speaking work? Is it easy to use, or do you have to retype all the sentences afterwards?

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  #6 (permalink)
 cpi65 
UK
 
Experience: None
Platform: -
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Yo!

Nothing much of value to add really, other than to say I wish you the very best of luck on your journey my friend!!! Do you know what makes some people "unstoppable"?? It's simple, THEY DON'T STOP!!

GO FOR IT BRO!

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  #7 (permalink)
 
ZTR's Avatar
 ZTR 
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: NinjaTrader7
Broker: Mirus RCG/Zen-Fire
Trading: CL & 6e, looking at ES, ZB and AU again.
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Thanks Given: 1,099
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cpi65 View Post
Yo!

Nothing much of value to add really, other than to say I wish you the very best of luck on your journey my friend!!! Do you know what makes some people "unstoppable"?? It's simple, THEY DON'T STOP!!

GO FOR IT BRO!

Thank you so much.

Stealing this from @chipotlebop ( hope you don't mind Gary):

Beliefs – consistently good trading edge

1.I objectively identify my edge.
2.I predefine the risk of every trade.
3.I completely accept the risk or I am willing to let go of the trade.
4.I act on my edges without reservation or hesitation.
5.I pay myself as the market makes money available to me.
6.I continually monitor my susceptibility to making errors.
7.I understand the absolute necessity of these principles of consistent success, therefore, I never violate them.


AFFIRMATIONS
1. I am a successful trader
2. I believe in my strategy
3. I anticipate the settups
4. I execute my settups with fast precision
5. I adapt quickly to a change in market conditions
6. I wait patiently for my settups
7. I do not touch the mouse when I see trades that are not part of my trading plan.
8. I only execute according to my trading plan.
9. I manage risk with order flow
10. I quickly exit if order flow invalidates the settup
11. I reverse my position of the settup signals
12. I monitor my thoughts and behavior

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My own version Sun Tsu applied to trading:



5 Essentials for victory

1.He will succeed who knows WHEN to trade and WHEN NOT to trade.
2.He will succeed when he is prepared and anticipates the precise moment to strike.
3.He will succeed who is fully engaged and not distracted by negative thoughts.
4.He will succeed who understands his competition and their motives.
5.He will succeed who is calm throughout the trade action.


If you know the market participants and know yourself, you need not fear a failed trade.
If you know yourself, but not the market participants, for every victory you will also suffer a defeat.
If you know neither, you will be defeated in every battle.


I profit by making NO errors. Making NO errors is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering the market participants who are already defeated.
A skillful trader puts his trades on in at the right location which makes self defeat impossible and does not miss the moment for defeating his opponents.

Now back to how to become a stress-free trader:

So today I made through first six chapters. He talks about good karma total responsibility have a system that gets you I suggest looking at @aztrader9's Zen and the Art of the small account, and his trading journal elite section.

So the first section of the book is the seven secrets of successful trader

Good karma
total responsibility
have a system that fits you
plan a trade and trade a plan
work hard at learning how to trade and working!
Think positive
it's nothing personal
to be a successful trader, don't be a successful trader

I suggest reading each one of these chapters draw your own conclusions.

But I'll tell you what I thought was important.

Taking total responsibility for your trading is a very important point: You can't just take someone else's system and trade it. Not possible, this is why turnkey systems & black boxes don't work. You have to own it, you have to spend time with, it has to be you. If it's not your, you are just going to burn up money. Seriously. Never forget this. I spent a lot of time working on my system. My biggest problem has been medications that kill my focus.

My system is based on my main trading tool reading the DOM. I start with looking at a volume ladder on several time frames. I use a top-down approach looking at a day chart to gain perspective, an 8K volume ladder and 8K volume chart &, a 1--2K volume and in a 1-2 K volume ladder, finally I use what I call my super scalper, which allows me to see fine structure of price action. All of these are used to tell me when it's time to read Dom.

It is my system, I put together, so I take total responsibility for its execution.

So now that I have any system for which I take total responsiblity, I must turn into written rules. This is something I will work on later. Will post setups in my Price, Volume and the DOM thread.

Anyone reading this - I am telling you what you need to do.You you must have a system & take total responsibility for its results. If you read @Big Mike 's posts you will see that he is always telling you it's within you succeed. You will get out of the market what you think you deserve somehow it's all tied to this. It's not the market, it is you.

They say it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert, there are posts on this forum concerning this topic, search them out. To save my wrists I'm not going to add every single link here, I'm a make you work a little bit. Just know it's true you want to get good at something work at.

I really liked twists I discovered in the thinking positive chapter. It's not about positive it's about doing all the other things before you think positive. You can't just say you are going to make $million a week.
I don't care how much positive thinking you do. It won't get you $1 million. You have to put in a lot of effort to get to the point to do this. You have to trust your system, you have to know that as an edge. Only then can you think positive about your system.

The market doesn't care about you- don't anthropomorphize the market. It's a collection of individuals all doing whatever they think they can do to make money. At this I also recommend reading Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas, again search it on the forum. (to save my wrists I'm not going to add all the links like I usually do.) So don't blame market when you have a bad day, it's your responsibility trade well, no one else's. Don't listen to pundits, don't watch the news, don't look for tips as I said before forget about trade some else's system black boxes all that stuff up will just blow up your account. I know been there done that. Not going to happen this time. You can't let emotions get in the way, you can be like ice either. Don't play would have could have should have. You should do everything according to your rules and make sure your rules drawn up so that there's really an edge.

It's not about being right, it's about having an edge. I suggest at this SIM'in, until you feel a until you're sure that you have an edge again look at Zen and the Art of small account. Phenomenal, what Brian has done in that thread gives hope to all traders starting with small accounts that might even help those with big accounts. Again my policy is to not add links save my hands.

Okay this is really important you know your life, trading is to be just one part. More and more I'm reading threads how people are limiting the amount of time they spend in front of the screen. In other words want quality trading time not quantity.

So, again to summarize really page 82 of how to become a stress-free trader.

And I really like this, successful trading is:

boring
effortless
easy
stress-free

Get to this point and you will be a consistently successful stress-free trader.

Even this little bit of typing is stressing my hands, I'm done. Probably won't be posting again until tomorrow on Brett.

R.I.P. Andy Zektzer (ZTR), 1960-2010.
Please visit this thread for more information.
Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread
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  #8 (permalink)
 
ZTR's Avatar
 ZTR 
 
Experience: Advanced
Platform: NinjaTrader7
Broker: Mirus RCG/Zen-Fire
Trading: CL & 6e, looking at ES, ZB and AU again.
Posts: 2,096 since Nov 2009
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Fat Tails View Post

How does Dragon Naturally Speaking work? Is it easy to use, or do you have to retype all the sentences afterwards?

yes it works I do have to retype some of it but it's a lot easier than typing that's where this is coming from. So for typing in stream of conscious it's great. For a lot of moderator stuff I had to do no, it's too hard. I can trade with it using ninja but it gets a little scary and I would rather not do it for real.

It's easier to click in entries and I really like chart trader. But I have posted examples of adding lots and lots of contracts under voice control but I don't recommend in anything but Sim.

So as you can see that above paragraphs is pretty unformatted. Just because I'm trying to save my wrists.

R.I.P. Andy Zektzer (ZTR), 1960-2010.
Please visit this thread for more information.
Visit my NexusFi Trade Journal Started this thread
The following 2 users say Thank You to ZTR for this post:
  #9 (permalink)
 
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 Fat Tails 
Berlin, Europe
Market Wizard
 
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Trading: Keyboard
Posts: 9,888 since Mar 2010
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ZTR View Post
yes it works I do have to retype some of it but it's a lot easier than typing that's where this is coming from. So for typing in stream of conscious it's great. For a lot of moderator stuff I had to do no, it's too hard. I can trade with it using ninja but it gets a little scary and I would rather not do it for real.

It's easier to click in entries and I really like chart trader. But I have posted examples of adding lots and lots of contracts under voice control but I don't recommend in anything but Sim.

So as you can see that above paragraphs is pretty unformatted. Just because I'm trying to save my wrists.

Looks like a good deal. Best product tested. Version 10 Preferred is available here for around $ 125.00. My father is a bit handicapped with his eyes, maybe I can teach him to use this. Dou you have version 10 or 11?

  #10 (permalink)
 
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 PandaWarrior 
In the heat
 
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Fat Tails View Post
Andy, hope that you will recover well from your illness. As you said, it is a physical and psychological challenge. I cannot compare it to anything that I have lived through.

I love the two books of Brett Steenbarger (Daily Trading Coach and Enhancing Trader Performance). Have them next to my desk, so that I can re-read passages. That's the reason that I do not like e-books, it is easier to grab the real books and read them again. My library has three sections

- the books I am reading several times
- the books I have read only once and will not read again
- the anti-library (as Umberto Eco calls it), the books I have not read yet...

How does Dragon Naturally Speaking work? Is it easy to use, or do you have to retype all the sentences afterwards?


My library is in the following sections:

*Life Changing
*Interesting but not life changing
*Religious
*Business
*History
*Junk

Every year or so, I go through my books, I have hundreds at this point, cull out the ones I have never read and don't intend to, take out the ones I've read and never will again, put the ones I think are worth keeping on a lower more accessible shelf for possible re-reading and add one or two to the life changing shelf. I usually end up selling the cull back to Hastings and making a couple hundred bucks which I then use to purchase more books on my reading list.

My goal is to eventually have only three sections: The life changing section, a history section and a currently interested in but not currently reading section. I may work on that this winter.

I'll use ebooks for every thing else.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, Leonardo da Vinci


Most people chose unhappiness over uncertainty, Tim Ferris
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Last Updated on December 30, 2010


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