Last week for my birthday I received a PS3 (Playstation 3 Video Game console
for those who live on a planet other than Earth).
It’s very cool.
Of course, then I needed the latest 1080p TV to play it on. So I bought that
today … 56 beautiful inches of DLP.
Then, you don’t want to invest all that money, only to have your experience
ruined by a sub par sound system. So I invested in a nice Sony surround
sound system as well.
Gosh, you’d think I was 12.
But I rationalized that this is an investment in my trading career.
I’m sure the IRS will agree, right?
Don’t worry, I’m not even trying to write it off. It’s just my own way or
rationalizing the outrageous investment.
But there is a little kernel of truth to it, and it is this …
For traders, day traders especially, my experience has been that our #1
challenge is over trading.
Since we love to trade, we want to put on trades all the time! After all,
it’s fun to trade, not to sit and stare at a monitor.
And so we start to trade the market as though it’s a video game.
That’s a one-way ticket to “game over.”
The market isn’t doing anything significant very often, so there aren’t good
low-risk trades to be had frequently.
The way that I, in my eternal immaturity, have decided to deal with that
psychological impulse to treat the market like a video game … is to actually
play video games and get the urge out of my system that way.
Plus, my kids love them and so it’s a great bonding experience when I play
with my kids (yes, I know, more rationalization).
Actually I started doing this several years ago when I bought my first XBox.
And guess what. As lame as it may sound … it actually works for me!
I get my adrenaline rush through the video games and therefore don’t have
that “need” from the markets any more.
This article isn’t really about video games. It’s about the psychology of
trading.
If you find yourself over trading, then simply ask what other activity you
could do to satisfy your need for “action.”
Most traders are aware of this problem and so they attempt to suppress the
need. That’s the wrong approach because they’re just putting a lid on a
boiling pot.
Instead of fighting it, indulge it, but redirect the energy and get the need
fulfilled in another way that won’t be financially detrimental.
What activity would you enjoy to indulge your need for an adrenaline rush?
Add it to your schedule and you just may find your trading improves!
Have fun, play games and never grow up. Except when it comes to trading:
Then it’s time to be mature, be patient and let the amateurs churn their
accounts while you wisely wait and trade only the very best opportunities.
BIO
Dr. Barry Burns has been the featured speaker at DayTradersUSA, and
developed a 5 Day Course for WorldWideTrders at their request.
Dr. Burns has been a headlining guest speaker for the Market Analysts of
Southern California, given seminars around the country at many Wealth Expos
as well as many Traders Expos, been interviewed on the Robin Dayne “Elite
Masters of Trading” Radio Show, and was the lead moderator of FuturesTalk
chat room where he would guide listeners through the open and close of each
trading day.
He has a doctorate in Hypnotherapy and is a certified NLP practitioner, and
therefore able to help people with the psychology of trading.
Dr. Burns started his own education firm, Top Dog Trading, writes a Blog
(http://www.topdogtrading.com) to help students become
profitable quickly.
