I don't know... I used to trade like that. Then I realized that I found it psychologically unpleasant and physiologically unsustainable (burned out).

These days I make 1-2 trades max. This gives me time to breathe and observe.

But to each his own. Don't let me sway you in any way. You have to find out what works for you.

iqgod 

I suddenly decided to play @PandaWarrior. I will leave my one tick stop there and then place my target at 50 ticks. Why do these ideas dawn on me at the most inopportune moments? So I wanted. You stop was respected - my ego whispered. Just ride down 50 ticks or more like @PandaWarrior after that.

There is no glory in trying to be like me or anyone else. In fact, trying to be like someone else will lead to your ruin. You MUST be yourself. Use mine or others ideas IF they fit your personality and style. Otherwise, it will only end badly.

Cheers.

iqgod 

The memories are hazy, but today was an 'unmindful' day - I observe that there is an intimate connection between haziness and unmindfulness. A truly awful day, but I will take it for what it is really - a treasure trove for its L E A R N I N G S but of course that means that I have 'learnt' and will never repeat such a day again. (Otherwise there have been no learnings!) What went wrong? My integrity was not bulletproof today. I had ulterior motives - I was not trading to make money today, there was an 'ego stake' at play. My humility nose-dived and my ego came into play.

Many thanks for sharing the details of your path to attaining a trader's mindset. This is a real treasure for yourself and others. I kept a long public journal when I started out and my ability to repeat mistakes was astonishing. Unfortunately my mistakes were made with real money. The TST combine is a very low-risk way to put your trading plan and your mindset to the test.

Four years ago, after yet another round of repeated mistakes, I posted in my journal:

This has been one hell of a tough month, but these are the lessons you need early in your trading career, not later.

...cut losses quickly on ALL trades. I can have a long string of profitable trades, and cut losses quickly, and then suddenly assume a setup is so strong it deserves to be held onto, because surely it will retrace that big move. No. Wrong. Every trade is a brand new one and there can be no exceptions to risk management. Period.

Someone posted this on [another forum] and I have it on my wall now:

“Being disciplined in the past isn’t good enough: on each and every trade you must be disciplined. Forever. Like a drunk in a program you can NEVER slip off the wagon.”

You're aware of your mistakes, of the negative thinking habits that lead to negative trading results. I recommend developing a specific plan for handling the various situations that snowball into a negative result and sometimes into revenge trading madness. Have a specific consequence for each negative thought and each negative action (trading outside the plan).

I now have enough experience that I simply step away if I make a couple mistakes in a row. I walk outside and breathe deeply and re-center myself. I can then come back and recover easily.

If that doesn't work, then it might be a good idea to have a Daily Mistake Limit and if you hit it, you're done for the day. That should help keep you from hitting a daily loss limit. Then if you find yourself violating THAT rule, you'll have to get an Enforcer

iqgod, you still have 3 full days, you can still trade on May the 3rd. So start swingin'.....

Pedro40 

iqgod, you still have 3 full days, you can still trade on May the 3rd. So start swingin'.....

As per my plan as April 2013 ends, it is the end of my personal journey for this particular combine.

When an archer is shooting for nothing he has all his skill.
If he shoots for a brass buckle he is already nervous.
If he shoots for a prize of gold
he goes blind
or sees two targets
- he is out of his mind!

His skill has not changed. But the prize
divides him. He cares.
He thinks more of winning than of shooting
and the need to win
drains him of power.

- Chang Tzu

iqgod 

When an archer is shooting for nothing he has all his skill. If he shoots for a brass buckle he is already nervous. If he shoots for a prize of gold he goes blind or sees two targets - he is out of his mind! His skill has not changed. But the prize divides him. He cares. He thinks more of winning than of shooting and the need to win drains him of power. - Chang Tzu

This is what makes trading so fun I think. My other passion is rodeo, team roping specifically. When your at home practicing without any pressure everything happens in slow motion, you can catch anything. Small local jackpot comes up and the pressure ups a smidgen. Still not too big of a deal as not much is on the line yet. Know you jump up to a full rodeo where the winner takes home a bunch of hundred dollar bills, you get the music blaring, the announcer talking everything up, telling you how fast you have to be before you even walk in the arena, the pressure just got ramped to the tip top. I have been there and done that, won some, lost more but I keep going back. Keep practicing. In rodeo I figure its 50% just dry talent, 50% emotions and I think the same is true for trading as well. I have ridden for way longer than I have traded and my first thought when I traded real money was I feel like I'm at the top with everybody watching, and I keep coming back for more