Mindful Trading Methods

Monitoring your results and keeping a close eye on the process by which your doing things is key for consistent trading success. If the trading results I am producing is in line with my desired results I always question the process. There must be a lack of awareness in one or several areas in which I am not applying information properly. Always go to the process. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing but expecting a different result.

By questioning the process you are confronting the cause head on that leads to the effect of your trading results. Remember the market is never to be blamed, it is never the markets, your brokers, or your friends fault that you haven’t achieved your trading targets. Everything stems back to the actions you took and the process that led you there. Change the process and you’ll get a different result.

If you day trade the markets you know sometimes there is intense volatility, other times it seems like everyone has gone to the beach. The days that have great volume are fun to trade, lots of liquidity and usually have big prices swings. Those are the days to lock in profits and capitalize on major market moves. Those are the days where I feel the most comfortable. Then there are the other days, slow, boring, and sometimes agonizing as you watch and wait patiently for an opportunity from the market.

Last Friday I was taught a lesson. That lesson is simple, irregardless what the market is doing Stay Sharp!! After trading with minor fluctuations in the morning the market I was trading went into a two and a half hour range. Which isn’t necessary a bad thing, except when the trading range is as wide as a pencil. So what to do, wait for a breakout of course! Since breakouts from trading ranges usually run vertically as wide as the range was horizontally, I remind myself that the bigger the range, the bigger the breakout.

After around two hours of being inside a tiny range I began to feel myself searching cyber space. Becoming sidetrack on small tangents irrelevant from trading. Before I knew it I was totally engrossed in reading articles or watching youtube videos. Unbenounced to my notice the market was building momentum. Where? Well towards a break of resistance of course! I could feel my focus was lost and mentally I wasn’t in the game. Wouldn’t you know that sucker broke out and broke out huge! Although I did catch some of the move, not nearly where my system originally signaled and entry point.

So whats the opportunity here ladies and gentlemen? Focus, Focus, Focus, and Patience of course! Stay sharp and on point so you can catch that momentum when the market starts to move.  

Recently I have had a few traders ask me what my daily routine as it pertains to preparing for the trading day. I have applied several different approaches until I found a routine that was effective for me. The key is to keep changing your approach until you get it right. I believe the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. Although this approach plays well for me, everyone is different. So mix it up a bit and remember the real fun is in the process of getting to the level of trading success you desire!

My day actually begins the night before. Every night I take ten minutes to review my trading goals for the year and more specifically what action items I have written down for the next thirty days. I then write down three intentions I intend to fulfill in my trading day tomorrow. Anything from entering my trades on time, letting my profits run, or keeping a strong level of focus and concentration. I don’t like to have a daily financial target. I am more focused on my monthly and yearly targets. I believe that making money consistently is a by-product of acquiring and mastering certain mental skills. I’ve found  using trading as a tool to master focus and concentration helps separate my emotions for my equity. Getting back to my three nightly intentions. Here’s the benefit of writing out three actions you intend to accomplish the night before. your brain loves to solve answers, by giving your brain a few tasks the night before, all night as you sleep your brain will create answers and solutions through your past experiences and you’ll trigger your cortex which is responsible for your creative thinking. So you will also come up with new creative ideas to become more effective the next trading day. Keep in mind we never know when our brains want to give up the answers, so be open minded!

Upon waking within the first ten minutes of being in bed I’ll quickly review my three intentions again and then visualize myself with amazing success in all areas of my life. I’ll then go into a mental rehearsal of seeing myself trading my system with consistent success. For more information on mental rehearsal I recommend Joe Dispenza’s book Evolve Your Brain.  After waking I’ll review the after-hours markets and then read up on a few market commentaries. I spend more time focusing on my system and strategies then reading about the news. I don’t believe you need to know that’s going to happen next in the markets in order to make money consistently. About ten minutes before the markets open I’ll do some jumping jacks or lunges. Any form of quick exercise to get my blood and heart moving. After this a few minutes before the open I’ll close my eyes, get focused and breathe heavy through my nose and out my mouth (right from my diaphragm). I focus on what I’m grateful for and focus on having an excellent successful trading day.

One of my strongest beliefs is a process a called CANI. That stands for constant and never ending improvements. Even if I have had an excellent trading day, I will give lots of attention to the trades I placed that were successful but also find areas to improve myself and my system. After the trading day I’ll go into a one hour meditation. Before meditating and during I’ll ask a few simple questions about how to improve my effectiveness, systems, and strategies. After coming out of a deep meditation I’ll then begin to review the trading day and overall market opportunities for a few hours. That is one of my most creative times of my days when I’m presented with new ideas and opportunities I had never thought of before.

This may sound like a lot of work, which it isn’t. Once it becomes a habit its second nature. It really comes down to this. If your committed your going to do what it takes, and if your interested your going to do whats convenient. Success is only reserved for committed parties.