(Yes, I'm long winded. It's why I don't post often. Yes, I have a problem. I am seeking help. Cope, or don't read. )
So, about a year and a half ago, I passed... "OMG!! This is so easy! I can totally make $4000 a day EVERY day...even though I have a 3$ account!!11 I will be rich in NO TIME !!eleven!! Everyone who tells me better is jealous and dumb!" ville. It was an alright place, good schools, nice neighborhoods. Everyone seemed fake though, plastic.
Shortly thereafter I discovered "OH NO!! I just blew $50,000 of someone elses money and am now totally ruined and my life is over" town.Not a nice place. Saw a lot of ruined traders there. Learned Forex will eat you in no time flat, that the market will take your life, your family, and everything you have. Realized that it didn't care and I wasn't owed anything by anyone. Hung out and felt sorry for myself for a while. Discovered booze. Then Jim and Fiji sent me a post card, and I realized I wasn't done.
(Thanks guys. You'll never know what I owe you.)
Then I did what a lot don't, and kept walking. Soon I found the beautiful city of "Study your ass off and have a little respect for the market."
It seemed like a good place, full of folks who wanted to be helpful and had some knowledge. Soon, I moved to the district of Money Management, and bought a nice place on "Use stop losses you retarded dumbass" lane. I've been here a while and have made more than I've lost.
I tell you all that to tell you this.
What got me over the hump of Money management and paying attention was dividing my trading times into 2% increments. I would aim to gain two percent, and when I did, I would get out. Maybe it seemed the market would continue...maybe it wouldn't. If I had reached that goal, I would get out. If things went backwards, same deal. 2% was the limit.
This helped me with my greed tremendously, and my fear as well. I learned that the market is always the market, but that I was the thing that kept changing....being afraid when I was losing, greedy when I was winning. This simple rule saved my trading, my family, and my future by removing most of the uncertainty. Since I made good calls more often than bad, the numbers worked. I watched Jim's buffalo action, used a trolls rainbow, and listened to a wizard whisper in the wind.
But now..a problem.
It is becoming easier and easier to hit my 2% goal. so much so that I am afraid I might be overtrading...ok, I know I am. I am using a live account, so I know that I know I'm not being falsely inflated by demo hopes, but things are...awry. I am racking up wins, but my choices get worse as the day wears on. I have no rules for when to know I have had enough. I end each week ahead, but usually through stress and strain. Big winning streak...big losing streak...come out on target...but exhausted.
Every week for three months.
So finally, now that you have aged while reading, my question.
Think of your account. IMAGINE you had a goal of 2% growth. How long would it take you, as a successful trader, to make that happen, usually? How many pips would it take you?
I think if I hear a few answers, especially from folks who I know have made it, it will help me weed out the noise of
"I MADE $10000 THIS WEEK AND EXPECT IT TO CONTINUE , ALWAYS"
and the opposite of
" YOU CANNOT MAKE that % in a month!! If you did, Hedge fund ninjas would appear from the shadows and whisk you away, never to be heard from again!!"
I know that answer is between extremes.
What's yours?
(PM me if you can help, but dont want to be public. )
Thank you for giving up your youth reading my post. Yes, that is grim death approaching, and you wasted your life on me. Good job. :
So, about a year and a half ago, I passed... "OMG!! This is so easy! I can totally make $4000 a day EVERY day...even though I have a 3$ account!!11 I will be rich in NO TIME !!eleven!! Everyone who tells me better is jealous and dumb!" ville. It was an alright place, good schools, nice neighborhoods. Everyone seemed fake though, plastic.
Shortly thereafter I discovered "OH NO!! I just blew $50,000 of someone elses money and am now totally ruined and my life is over" town.Not a nice place. Saw a lot of ruined traders there. Learned Forex will eat you in no time flat, that the market will take your life, your family, and everything you have. Realized that it didn't care and I wasn't owed anything by anyone. Hung out and felt sorry for myself for a while. Discovered booze. Then Jim and Fiji sent me a post card, and I realized I wasn't done.
(Thanks guys. You'll never know what I owe you.)
Then I did what a lot don't, and kept walking. Soon I found the beautiful city of "Study your ass off and have a little respect for the market."
It seemed like a good place, full of folks who wanted to be helpful and had some knowledge. Soon, I moved to the district of Money Management, and bought a nice place on "Use stop losses you retarded dumbass" lane. I've been here a while and have made more than I've lost.
I tell you all that to tell you this.
What got me over the hump of Money management and paying attention was dividing my trading times into 2% increments. I would aim to gain two percent, and when I did, I would get out. Maybe it seemed the market would continue...maybe it wouldn't. If I had reached that goal, I would get out. If things went backwards, same deal. 2% was the limit.
This helped me with my greed tremendously, and my fear as well. I learned that the market is always the market, but that I was the thing that kept changing....being afraid when I was losing, greedy when I was winning. This simple rule saved my trading, my family, and my future by removing most of the uncertainty. Since I made good calls more often than bad, the numbers worked. I watched Jim's buffalo action, used a trolls rainbow, and listened to a wizard whisper in the wind.
But now..a problem.
It is becoming easier and easier to hit my 2% goal. so much so that I am afraid I might be overtrading...ok, I know I am. I am using a live account, so I know that I know I'm not being falsely inflated by demo hopes, but things are...awry. I am racking up wins, but my choices get worse as the day wears on. I have no rules for when to know I have had enough. I end each week ahead, but usually through stress and strain. Big winning streak...big losing streak...come out on target...but exhausted.
Every week for three months.
So finally, now that you have aged while reading, my question.
Think of your account. IMAGINE you had a goal of 2% growth. How long would it take you, as a successful trader, to make that happen, usually? How many pips would it take you?
I think if I hear a few answers, especially from folks who I know have made it, it will help me weed out the noise of
"I MADE $10000 THIS WEEK AND EXPECT IT TO CONTINUE , ALWAYS"
and the opposite of
" YOU CANNOT MAKE that % in a month!! If you did, Hedge fund ninjas would appear from the shadows and whisk you away, never to be heard from again!!"
I know that answer is between extremes.
What's yours?
(PM me if you can help, but dont want to be public. )
Thank you for giving up your youth reading my post. Yes, that is grim death approaching, and you wasted your life on me. Good job. :