{"id":11578,"date":"2011-05-14T14:04:12","date_gmt":"2011-05-14T18:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.smbtraining.com\/blog\/?p=11578"},"modified":"2021-05-06T15:52:53","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T19:52:53","slug":"traders-ask-how-do-you-handle-the-daily-stress-of-trading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smbtraining.com\/blog\/traders-ask-how-do-you-handle-the-daily-stress-of-trading","title":{"rendered":"Traders Ask: How Do You Handle the Daily Stress of Trading?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi mike<\/p>\n

In your book and in many of your posts and lectures you compering a day trader to a professional athlete. because of\u00a0the need of showing perfect performance in each game\/match\/contest and you are right of course.<\/p>\n

But i think there is also a big difference. Most professional athletes have to compete for a few days a month at most, when a day trader have to compete every day. As Michael lewis wrote in Liar’s poker: “a trader need to wake up every morning ready to bite the ass of a bear”.\u00a0\u00a0A trader have to show perfect performance every day in order to make a living. in this respect a day trader (imo) is more like a salesman who have to performe perfectly in front of each potential customer every day\u00a0in order to make a living\u00a0(bty Lewis also wrote that all traders thet he knows are also a very good salesmen, maybe that is what he meant ?).<\/p>\n

Now to my question<\/p>\n

Do you have any suggestions for me in how to:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. deal with the weary feeling after a long period of trading (competing every day)<\/li>\n
  2. deal with the stress of having to make a living every day<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    is trading in a group can halp?<\/p>\n

    Thanks again for your book, bloge and all your contribution to us traders<\/p>\n

    Kfir<\/p>\n

    Bella Responds<\/strong><\/p>\n

    from the Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego<\/p>\n

    Traders are comparable to pro athletes in that we are paid on our performance and our performance is a function of our skill development. \u00a0Too often new traders think trading is about acquiring just knowledge. \u00a0It isn’t. \u00a0Acquiring\u00a0knowledge\u00a0is just the first step in developing skill. \u00a0Next comes a large does of intrinsic motivation, supplemented with critical feedback and then the grind of purposeful practice. \u00a0 Kobe wasn’t born an elite basketball player and and the skill of trading intuition takes years of work to develop.<\/p>\n

    Each day our goal ought to be to improve. \u00a0Each trade our goal ought to be to make One Good Trade. \u00a0If we do this then the results can follow. \u00a0If we are hyperfocused on money or winning then we will not last as pro traders. \u00a0 Our job is not to make money it is to improve everyday.<\/p>\n

    So on Monday say you want to start seeing 1k days. \u00a0You are at $500 max. \u00a0And let’s assume you need work on your sizing. \u00a0Well on Monday your goal is to get better at sizing. \u00a0Finding the plays that make the most sense to you and slowly add some size. \u00a0Get better. \u00a0And keep doing this. \u00a0This will be your path to 1k days not walking in the door stressed to the max on putting up 1k. \u00a0You can stress all you want about putting up 1k. \u00a0It aint gonna happen until you improve your trading skill.<\/p>\n

    There can be a very thin line between having a great day and being negative on some days. \u00a0This can be stressful to some. \u00a0This week Greek Vandi found a great set up in M. \u00a0We discussed buying M 28 if this area held. \u00a0It did. \u00a0Greek Vandi got long. \u00a0He got shook. \u00a0He got in again. \u00a0He got shook again. \u00a0He tried to get in again but couldn’t. \u00a0M exploded up 80c ish.<\/p>\n

    Negative Greek Vandi sat. \u00a0He missed the move by less than a second. \u00a0Or so he thought. \u00a0We reviewed the trade and found another area to have gotten long which would have got him in that explosive upmove as well. \u00a0He lacked just a touch of trading skill for this move. \u00a0If Greek Vandi focuses on his P&L than he is left stressed. \u00a0Who wouldn’t be. \u00a0He missed that trade by a micro second. \u00a0Bastards! \u00a0If his goal is to improve on his support plays. \u00a0Then he has trading M. \u00a0And the day is a success.<\/p>\n

    For me I get stressed out if I am not prepared. \u00a0If I have not prepared for an open that can stress me out. \u00a0When I had not developed my trading skill in the late 90s that could stress me out as I wondered if I was good enough to compete on that day. \u00a0But I should have had someone in my ear telling me to just focus on improving everyday and that stress would have disappeared.<\/p>\n

    We create our trading stress. \u00a0If every trade we focused on One Good Trade and not the results, would there be stress? \u00a0If everyday was viewed as an opportunity to improve, would there be stress?<\/p>\n

    Mike Bellafiore<\/p>\n

    Author, One Good Trade<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Hi mike In your book and in many of your posts and lectures you compering a day trader to a professional athlete. because of\u00a0the need of showing perfect performance in each game\/match\/contest and you are right of course. But i think there is also a big difference. Most professional athletes have to compete for a few days a month at … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,455],"tags":[4674,1193,653,1354,1349,1630,1692],"class_list":["post-11578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mike-bellafiore-bellas-blogs","category-trading_psychology","tag-one-good-trade","tag-trader-education","tag-trader-training","tag-trading-coach","tag-trading-mentor","tag-trading-pyschology","tag-trading-stress","no-post-thumbnail"],"yoast_head":"\nTraders Ask: How Do You Handle the Daily Stress of Trading? | SMB Training<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smbtraining.com\/blog\/traders-ask-how-do-you-handle-the-daily-stress-of-trading\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Traders Ask: How Do You Handle the Daily Stress of Trading? | SMB Training\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hi mike In your book and in many of your posts and lectures you compering a day trader to a professional athlete. because of\u00a0the need of showing perfect performance in each game\/match\/contest and you are right of course. 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