Trading Journal Review 15th Dec 21 - 26th March 22.
Around 4 months of part time trading the bannana on M1.
I have decided to revisit my journey so far following a weird week or two where things have not felt right, or easy. This was my intention for the end of batch 5, but, I am doing it now instead as it feels like the right time. On reviewing my journal, I am 100% seeing the benefit of screenshots; and detailed entries. The power of the journal really is huge. It was effort to start, but now it is habit. So this will and must continue. Rule 1 of my journal… honesty.
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My Batch 1 review contained these thoughts; and I will comment if I still am or am not doing these things; and how I intend to overcome them: KEY SELF PROGRESSION / SELF LEARNING POINTS FROM THIS BATCH:
- Don’t force it. I am still forcing trades. I see my time as my investment and feel like I need some return on my time, I have already described this feeling as scouting for customers for the barber shop. To overcome this I am considering the following things for the start of batch 6 onwards, and hope to figure this out by the end of batch 5:
1, when trading LO for 2 hours I must factor in breaks away from the screen
2, only trade LO for 1 hour instead of 2 for focus and attention reasons; and less likely for the breakout to go back into the range and me want to force a trade there.
3, only trade LO and not NEO. Or, only trade one of the two sessions any given day whichever suits my other commitments with work etc that day
4, only trade either LO or NEO for 1 hour and also trade H1 on 6 pairs.
5, only trade H1 and see how this suits me
- If you can’t see clearly where you are in the market cycle, don’t pull the trigger.
This can only come from learning the market cycle and truly having a deep understanding of it; alongside the context and concept of the strategy; and knowing the strategy inside out with a full belief in my ability. This will take time, I am getting better but still a long way off where I need to be with consistency.
- ASK QUESTIONS, don’t sit on the sidelines.
I probably do this less now, possibly because I went through an over confident phase but, I do still seek feedback and will continue to seek feedback. I do not know it all. I never will.
- Only focus on one market per session.
I went away from this after batch 2/3 onwards, as I felt restricted. I did not like that feeling. Will multiple pairs on H1 ease that feeling? But for now I am back to one market at one session.
- Pre-market routine is key. Get this right and the mindset going into the session will be a lot clearer.
I went away from this, dipping in and out of the market throughout the day; in a sense it felt easier. Simply because there was less effort to do that. But I am now back to doing this and know it is important.
- Knowledge and understanding can only come from practice, exposure and mistakes. DO NOT BE AFRAID TO FK IT UP.
That is the feeling I have felt recently; the feeling not to FK it up. I know one bad trade in a batch will not change the overall result, I’m ok with the odd bad judgement call here or there but not when it is over and over and over again. I think it is a personal pride thing. Everyone wants to succeed and be the best. Surely that is a good trait to have. I need to harness that feeling to do better, not let it give me cloudy judgement.
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One thing that has changed for me over the last few trades is the zooming in on M1 and only looking at M1. Combined with the HTF support resistance, range levels. I kind of see both sides to this. By doing it, I am purely focusing on the now. But I also feel like I am missing the bigger picture. I felt more comfortable when doing my analysis from the top down.
This may be a misunderstanding on my part, when going for the m1 only zoomed in approach. I took literally as that. I am going to do my analysis from the top down going forward.
I also said in my batch 1 review: Learning to know when ‘enough is enough’ mentally. This is a must.
I am getting better with this. I know when I do not feel like trading. I am not afraid to skip a session. Since going on holiday I started reading the ‘mental game of trading.’ So far I can say it has not helped as I have become worse ! lol. I am trying to focus more on the psychology of trading and how I feel, perhaps some days I am over thinking it; but, it is all part of the journey. I still find the Mark Douglas stuff very useful.
I also said: I do sometimes find it hard to concentrate for the full 2 hours.
Usually because I’m forcing something that isn’t there. This supports my considerations above about taking breaks, going to 1 hour, or one session a day. I can say I have felt a build up of different emotions over the last week, positive and negative. What I thought was super positive, turns out was in fact totally wrong. Of course this knocks my confidence. Sometimes those feelings take longer to subside than others.
My take from my Batch 1 review, compared to right now… this is in my mental game. This is about me. I have yet to overcome some of those thoughts and feelings.
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I have 2 types of DS0. This has become very apparent to me.
1 - I go against my predefined trading plan but technically DS1 setup 'setup is a setup' This is mainly emotions based. I first felt restricted, so traded more markets. I then felt like I was really getting it, and the results were positive. So I over traded, taking setups throughout the day whenever I had a bit of time; out of over confidence and to kill the feeling of needing to be taking trades to justify my time and prove I can get positive Rs. The honest thing is, it is hard to not be like this when the results are so positive.
This however escalated, there have been times where I have knowingly traded against my TP. I hunted down setups and did STUPID things like trading usdcad on M1. Moving a stop loss out of fear a couple of times. Like taking 3 seed trades in a batch when I wasn't taking seeds. This has already been discussed as not part of the EDGE.
There has to be a line in the sand somewhere. I need to figure out where this is for me so I can trade enough but without the stupidity of over doing it. Everyone has their own acceptance and tolerance levels, I just need to figure out mine.
2 - strategy and technical based DS0. These are the trades that tends to come when I am sticking to my TP but the mistake arises from a misreading or misunderstanding of the market. Well, I just need to stick at it and do my best every session and really do my best to learn from my mistakes. If these come from emotions then I need to try figure that out at the time by documenting and offloading my thoughts to paper.
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Trading inside of the range…. How often am I doing it?
I felt after my last trade that there were previously occasions where I had done it previously and it had been deemed acceptable; so felt confused as to why it was not acceptable on my last trade. So I have gone back through all my trades to see how much I am doing it. Clearly more than I should be!!!!!
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My batch to date review on page 14 of my journal still resonates with me every time I read it; and actually, every time I read it I do get inspired again by it. There is a lot weaved within that review than meets the eye for me. There is a deeper message there. Again, I have to find the balance for me.
This post is kind of negative, or more focused on stuff to improve on. But I have also had the chance to remind myself of all the really good stuff I’ve done throughout my journal so far.
Thank you immy for the research and efforts you go to. I appreciate I have not been the most disciplined I accept that and endeavour to address that, but testimony to the strategy. Having simply tried my best to apply it and the concept I see extremely positive results. Of course the outcome is random, but If you would have told me 4 months ago I would be +87R (69R from DS1 and 18R from DS0) by this point trading part time I would have probably thought this was another scam youtube thing lol.
I am finding this so much better than when I traded setup 1 many years ago.
This has been a very useful thing to do. I am glad I have done this review now and feel better for doing it. The hard work continues
