Goal Setting

 So, as I go through this process of becoming a better trader, I am finding that the hardest part is to calm my mind and be calm when I am trading. When I am not calm, I get anxious, and it ends up with me not taking trades (because I am scared of taking a loss), or taking trades haphazardly that do not meet my entry conditions.  As I work through this, I find that I have missed something: goals.

Of course, my goal is to be a profitable trader; one who takes every setup that comes along that fits my parameters, is comfortable with losing, but has a upward-sloping profit curve.

As I was sitting listening to something with Sandy, the person was talking about looking at  "Your Miracle Scale"; where you look at what it would take to think you have accomplished a miracle! Ten is completing everything you want, and 1 is doing the opposite of what you want. Every time you mess up, you are not starting at 1, but you are just human and are still somewhere in the middle. If you make small measurable changes, and then add up all those small changes, you will have made a big step forward. As the catchphrase states, be better 1% each day, and the incremental changes add up.

But if you only look at big goals, you frequently don't achieve them and, in the end, give up. Sort of like us running a race. When I get tired (and I do), I don't try to think that I still have 5 miles to go; I think that I can make it to the next mile marker. When I get there, I think I can make it to the next. And this continues until I finish. Small goals.

So, I will start out small. My goal for the next trading days is: Make 5 trades in a row that do not deviate from my plan. No impulsive trades: see a setup that fits my plan, take the entry as planned, set my stop and target. Don't deviate. 

After I do this, I will celebrate my accomplishment and set my next goal!



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