{"id":15456,"date":"2011-11-04T09:29:16","date_gmt":"2011-11-04T13:29:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.smbtraining.com\/blog\/?p=15456"},"modified":"2023-08-01T19:33:52","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T23:33:52","slug":"the-overanxious-trader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smbtraining.com\/blog\/the-overanxious-trader","title":{"rendered":"The Overanxious Trader"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was reviewing a monthly review from a mentee, Shark (sometimes Shark Daddy or Sharkalicious or Shark Shack), that I thought could use the thoughts of Dr. Menaker, trading psychologist.<\/p>\n

Shark wrote:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Too excited on days I want to do well. I force too much. I had such high expectations for myself coming into earnings season that I started to\u00a0force things. I didn\u2019t let trades come to me. I was too jumpy. I was too eager. I wasn\u2019t\u00a0selective enough. Oftentimes I write too many tickets and don\u2019t select bigger picture\u00a0plays that will actually pay me. I think this happened a lot where I would write a bunch\u00a0of tickets and end up breaking even on a lot of days after fees.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here is Dr. Menaker’s response:<\/p>\n

Whenever a trader mentions performance expectations, I take notice. Of course, we all want to do our best, and some of us\u00a0perform\u00a0best when facing a challenge, like a\u00a0clutch-performing athlete in a way. But trading is a bit different.<\/p>\n

Having expectations is not a problem per se; it’s what we do with the expectations,\u00a0and how we respond to the expectation that is critical. The issue here for some\u00a0people is that expectations can become “demands”. For such people, these demands\u00a0become internal demands, narrowing one\u2019s field of awareness and easily translating\u00a0into a rigid mindset. A rigid mindset is a dangerous mindset for a trader; we need\u00a0flexibility and patience, not rigidity.<\/p>\n

Another possibility for this trader is that writing too many tickets, or\u00a0overtrading is simply a way to justify oneself and deal with performance pressure from high\u00a0expectations or internal demands to perform. In such a case, one needs to learn\u00a0to tolerate the discomfort that comes with performance pressure. Many people\u00a0will try to escape the discomfort by “doing something”, like getting into a marginal\u00a0trade. But that rarely does the trick and often leaves you more frustrated in the end.\u00a0Learning to be patient, to wait for the fat pitch, is one of the most important skills a\u00a0trader can have.<\/p>\n

Patience is not simply the ability to wait; it\u2019s the ability to have the right attitude\u00a0while waiting.<\/p>\n

You can be better tomorrow than you are today!<\/p>\n

Mike Bellafiore<\/p>\n

One Good Trade<\/em><\/a>
\nThe PlayBook<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

No relevant positions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was reviewing a monthly review from a mentee, Shark (sometimes Shark Daddy or Sharkalicious or Shark Shack), that I thought could use the thoughts of Dr. Menaker, trading psychologist. Shark wrote:   Too excited on days I want to do well. I force too much. I had such high expectations for myself coming into earnings season that I started … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":15457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1532],"tags":[1962,30,1193,653,682],"class_list":["post-15456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-blog","tag-dr-menaker","tag-prop-trading","tag-trader-education","tag-trader-training","tag-trading-psychology"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Overanxious Trader | 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\/the-overanxious-trader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Overanxious Trader | SMB Training\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was reviewing a monthly review from a mentee, Shark (sometimes Shark Daddy or Sharkalicious or Shark Shack), that I thought could use the thoughts of Dr. Menaker, trading psychologist. 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