You Were Born Good
"The human being is born with an inclination toward virtue."
—MUSONIUS RUFUS, LECTURES, 2.7.1–2
As we come to the end of October, a really tough one today to compare to trading!
When developing a trading mindset, it is extremely difficult at first, as we are aiming to change all those pre-conceived thoughts of what is going to happen during a trade. We have to re-wire our thought process, to become neutral and to expect the unexpected at times. We must be prepared to be able to react instantly to any scenario that crops up!
The hardest thing I found at first, was to willingly take a controlled loss, as this goes totally against what has been engrained in us, from a small child through to adulthood. Do well at school and in your exams, strive to captain the school football team, win on school sports day etc. etc. It doesn't stop there either! Pass your driving test, get a good job, strive for that promotion, go for that first house and get on the property ladder; the list goes on.
Then you start on your trading journey and all of a sudden you are telling yourself to willingly take a loss, admit defeat, lose! This is not what your brain wants to hear and it's most definitely not something that you will be comfortable with at first. The occasional controlled losses, will protect your bank long term and because of the historical stats/data that you have available, you will have many more winning trades than losers. The trick is, to control those losers at a manageable level and stay in the game by protecting your bank!
Once the penny drops and you realise that you can't take a profit from every single trade, it will become easier to be able to manage and control any losses to ensure long term profitability.
This is why it is so important to have zero distractions and be "in the zone" so we can react instantly and without hesitation when we are trading.
I truly believe that if we can master ourselves, then we can master anything; if we can put our mind to it!