Sunday 17 January 2010
Wtf am I doing?
I was looking forward to trading today as it seemed to be a full card. Unfortunately someone came round to visit me, so I wasn't going to trade. but half way through the afternoon I thought "F**k it, I'm going to trade, I know its risky but I think I can handle it and I know what to look out for and avoid if there is someone else distracting me". The things to avoid being going in play and paying attention to what bets had been matched and what bets hadn't. So of course, with someone talking to me and distracting me, I traded, had a small loss, put some trades in too close to the off, went in play, thought I had closed out for a big loss, decided I'd had enough of that, and only traded one race. then I found out later I had left an unclosed back bet in( think it was one of my efforts to close out in running that I hadnt cancelled) so ended up with an even bigger loss after just one race! Feel free to laugh at me or mock me, because seriously, if I'm going to do such stupid things then maybe I should just stick to minimum stakes and have trading as a past time and hobby, similar to playing a computer game or whatever. Have I learned nothing over the year I have been trading "properly" or over the 2 years that I have been trading in full? As Someone mentioned in a comment a while back, "Don't like to say it but you've acheived absolutely zilch since starting this blog" I didnt really agree with him then, but maybe hes right. My trading and discipline have improved a bit, but when it comes down to it, I give in to impulses that I know are wrong and likely to lead to difficulty.
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You don't have the monopoly on crap days Neil, I dropped the best part of a grand on one race today. Mistakes and cocks ups will always happen in trading and they usually cost us big, you'll never avoid them fully so you've got to come to terms and accept them otherwise it'll affect you too much to trade effectively.
ReplyDeleteIt's bad enough taking a hit on the balance without beating yourself up over losses, you know where you went wrong so just try and avoid it in the future and move on.
The mindset with which we approach trading is one of our most important assets, if you're continually dwelling on past losses/trades or assuming you'll never rid yourself of these 'impulses' it'll become some self fulfilling prophecy that you'll repeat those mistakes. Sub consciously you'll be hoping they'll happen to prove you right.
I noticed your loss when I read ur blog and wondered if you had gone in play or something, very unusual for you as it seems to me you are usually very disciplined . I agree that I beat myself up too much, its all part of the character "flaws" that make trading so hard for me. I guess I will either learn the lessons or not, dwelling on them probably wont help.
ReplyDeleteOne of those once in a blue moon situations for me, looking at the wrong account, so not too much I can learn from it. I've had a good few months and to be fair been getting too lax with my approach so it was bound to happen in some form or other soon enough. Hopefully it'll get me focused more and now the thaws started and more meetings I'll claw it back soon enough.
ReplyDeleteThing with trading is that so much of whether we win or lose long term is down to the mindset not how well we can spot steamers or drifters. I'll do a post on my blog about winning and losing, if I get time, as it's one of the major flaws some traders have, convincing themselves they can't win despite their own experiences showing them they can.