STAGE 3 –
CLARITY AND LIBERATION
As the chrysalis becomes a butterfly, a trader is born. We are no longer slave to our emotions and we are in control of our actions. No longer do we jump in and out of trades, nor do we micro-manage them once they have been placed. We set our stop and take profit target and then we walk away. We allow the market to ‘do it’s own thing’ by employing a
set and forget trading style. As in our daily lives, so much is outside our control and the only power we have lies in the way we react to the cards that are dealt us. Thus we are not over-elated when our take profit is hit, nor do we fall into deep despair when we incur a loss. In fact, there is a direct negative correlation between the intensity of our emotional reactions to either events and our success as a trader.
Suddenly we can see the emotions of the herd on our charts without being part of that herd any longer. Thus we do not react to those herd-emotions but instead are able to evaluate and use those emotions to our advantage.
This clarity is liberating. Clarity and liberation constitute this stage of a trader’s development, if we have developed the ability to see clearly and understand what is happening. We now have the freedom to choose how we react. We are master of our own trading versus being part of the herd.
What else can a trader expect from this stage of development? He or she becomes a detached observer of the market, never involved emotionally yet constantly evaluating the emotions of other traders, waiting patiently for the right set-up to appear and not compromising by entering the market on low-probability trades.
The transition from Stage 2 to Stage 3 does not happen overnight. Like all learning experiences it is a process and a gradual one which is made up of a series of small clicks, each being another piece of the puzzle falling into place. There is a realization of how the market’s logic is not the same as the conventional Aristotle kind of logic, which was incorporated in the late 19th century into modern formal logic. There dawns the understanding of how Smart Money acts versus how the herd behaves and of how a chart reflects emotions. The knowledge develops that the trader does not have to participate in any market event, that he or she is free to choose which battles are to be entered into. Each click comes as a result of yet another lesson taught by the market, which is the greatest teacher of all. Rarely does it miss an opportunity to punish the trader for making mistakes. If you are an avid student of the market, you will listen carefully and take notes, collecting knowledge and experience. Ore goes in and steel comes out. This process takes time but it is worth it.
When you arrive at this point in your trading career, you will discover that this metamorphosis has transformed you not only as a trader but as a person. You will find that in your daily life you have more self-control and self-discipline, are more patient and less impulsive.
This sounds almost too good to be true. And there is indeed a big ‘BUT’. For this transformation is not necessarily a constant state. There will be times when those bad habits return and you suddenly realize that you have slipped back a few rungs on the ladder. You become over-confident, trigger-happy and complacent. You enter into less optimal trades and disregard your rules. The sooner you notice this, the sooner you can get yourself back on track. For the discarding of old destructive
trading habits is not a single event but a process. It seems to be a human failing that when we achieve success, we tend to stop doing what led to that success in the first place. However, as frustrating as this may seem, when you overcome these set-backs and return to the right path, your skill of dealing with this phenomenon becomes better. Relapses are less frequent, you recognize them sooner and eliminate them faster. They will finally cease altogether when your reactions to the market become second nature.
STAGE 4 –
the last stage of a trader’s development is easy to understand even if it is not easy to implement. If the trader is ready for the transition, then it will not be difficult.
The early stages of trading are full of emotional decisions which lead to erroneous entries and exits. These are the emotions that drive the herd. But as you slowly recognize, take control over and lessen their effect on your trading, they do not disappear entirely. The trader at this level has learned to separate them from his or her trading behavior and observe them in an objective and detached manner. Instead of becoming their slave, the trader can use them to his or her advantage. If you can feel the panic deep within yourself that ensues when there is a huge sell-off, those are exactly the emotions the herd is feeling too. Similarly, if you can feel that irresistible temptation to buy that enormous upward parabolic spike, you are slotting into how the herd feels too. How often have you sat and watched it go up and up and up until it becomes too unbearable to resist and you buy, only to find that the last traders have hit ‘buy at market’ already?
USE your own emotional reactions as a mirror to gauge the emotions of the herd. Once you recognize them then you will also know how the herd is going to act. Together with your improved and strict self-control, such an approach will put you on the right side of the market. And the right side is not usually the side of the herd.
However, I administer two warnings:
First, do not try to integrate this element of trading into your arsenal too soon. It is better to remain at Stage 3 long enough to become confident and consistent before you attempt to move onto Stage 4, which demands the implementation of a great deal of experience and self-control.
Secondly, as you progress on your journey, you may discover that you stop experiencing those herd-like emotions altogether and that your impulses are completely in synchronization with your own analysis and actions. When this happens, your attempt to read YOUR impulses as a window to the HERD’S impulses may backfire as you begin trading as a contrarian trader to yourself rather than the herd. Essentially then you become part of the herd again!
Look at it like this... There is a space between external influences and your reaction. YOU create this space by pausing before you react and your freedom of choice lies within that space. And YOU CAN CHOOSE the impulsive emotional reaction – or not. You can choose to ask yourself what reaction would be the best, what emotions are driving the price move and who is likely to be behind it, either smart money or the herd and you can choose to position yourself on the right side and make decisions which support that choice. You can choose to listen to your own emotions during that pause, evaluate the first impulsive response you felt compelled to make and analyze whether it was a valid decision or purely one that the herd would make,
THUS MAKING YOUR FIRST IMPULSE A WINDOW INTO MASS PSYCHOLOGY.
原文:http://www.learntotradethemarket.com/forex-articles/the-psychology-of-forex-traders-profits/?awt_l=4.qOd&awt_m=1dp0gTKCs1wtMW