Month 5, Day 93, 94, 95 & 96 - 36-month forex trading challenge - watch your loop.
Another week begins, and it's the week where I'll reach 100 days on the 36-month forex trading challenge.
I may not be where I wanted to be, but Rome wasn't built in a day. What I've learnt and continue to learn, I believe is forming the foundations for what is yet to come. Everybody wants to make money from the markets right now, but to make money in any pursuit you have to invest time, energy and effort. You have to pay your dues and be prepared to take the good with the bad. If you lose, don't moan and whinge, but instead treat the loss as an opportunity to learn.
Through reflection and self-observation the true goal of trading is to get to know the real you and what you bring to bear in the markets. As far as I can tell, the majority of traders out there chase a perfect goal or system that will reap them untold rewards.
There is no such thing!
Success in the markets is about understanding you and what you do – it's about being honest about your personality traits and what is helping you, or in the beginning, more likely hurting you.
This personal introspection is difficult, but so important, and as I write this I'm reminded of something that happened last week.
On Friday morning (day 95) I did what I've done a thousand times before – and that my friends is the problem!
I got in my car and drove to a destination I know well, to meet a new executive career coaching client (in addition to trading, I also run a business called Career Codex). We'd arranged to meet at Hilton East Midlands Airport, a favourite choice for morning meetings, and a spot being located at junction 24 of the M1, within easy reach across the Midlands.
Expecting traffic, I left in plenty of time. On Friday though, it wasn't traffic that proved to be the problem...
...junction 24 has been chopped, changed and messed about with for quite a while now. It seems Highways England is determined to make things more complex and confusing, but let's leave that moan for another day.
On Friday, I exited 21's roundabout and expected to find the entrance to the hotel where it's always been. But today, while I could see the hotel (thankfully the building hadn't moved) the access road was gone.
I was immediately thrown into a state of confusion. I routed round and approached again, but still no entrance.
Thoughts raced through my head...
...is the hotel closed for refurbishment?
...what am I missing?
...where is the #amn#d entrance?
As human beings, while performing tasks we know well and do often, we often switch to automatic mode. Psychologists call this open loop control, a situation where we're pretty much on autopilot, relying on our subconscious mind with very little or no conscious intervention. If you've ever arrived at a destination with little recollection of the journey you just made, then you've succumbed to open loop control.
I was caught in this loop on Friday, and it was only on my third try to locate the hotel that I saw the entrance right in front of me. Accessible off the roundabout and clearly signed, I'd failed to notice it on my first and second attempts.
The human brain is clever, and the majority of the time this automation helps us go about our daily business without brain overload. Imagine if we had to process every task in our conscious mind in real-time.
Without the support of our subconscious mind we'd be a thousand times less productive. What's more we'd never sleep! We'd have to stay awake 24/7 to focus on the conscious act of breathing.
In currency trading this automation loop is not helpful. As I said above, in trading the only thing you can control is yourself. The market is far too big and complex for you, I or pretty much anybody else to have any influence at all on price action.
Working on yourself instead of chasing the unrealistic dream of finding the perfect system is what really matters. Yes, you need a system and a set of rules to follow, but what they are doesn't really matter that much.
What matters is that the system you choose needs to be in tune with your personality. It will never match exactly and the challenge then becomes monitoring and regulating your emotions in real-time as the market ebbs and flows.
Open loop control won't help you understand you. To do work on yourself you have to bring things out of your subconscious mind into conscious thought. The best way I've found to do this is to document everything I'm doing. The act of writing things down forces me to question every decision I make, and when I do make a mistake I have an audit trail to go back and interrogate what went wrong.
This morning I entered a long position in NZDCAD (T24L). This was using my Golden Gate strategy on a close beyond the 50 SMA.
On the daily chart at the time of entry, price was trading above the 50 SMA, which reinforced my decision to get long. A daily close above the 50 SMA will further reinforce my confidence to the bid side. If this doesn't happen it will be a clear signal for me to get out.
There's plenty of room before the 200 SMA is reached on the daily or 240 chart, and I'm already long in this pair with my SIG. 1 strategy off the 5-year low. As always, I might be wrong and my exit rules are in place should I need them.
Week 17 part 2 of the 36-month forex trading challenge is now available to watch on the STG FOREX TV YouTube channel. Once again and I'm in Dubai where it's hot, hot, hot!
If you like the video, I'd be very grateful for a like or a share please. Also be sure to 'Subscribe', so as not to miss any future episodes.
Is it really possible to turn £50K into £1M? Over the next 36 months I'm going to find out by trading my personal account with full transparency.
Follow my 36-month challenge to turn £50K into £1M.
Read my blog here: https://stgforextvforexchallenge.blogspot.com
Subscribe on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyGySJ5IeDjq-DIJPU7nYvw
[Please note, the information presented is general educational material and does not constitute trading advice.
Trading foreign exchange (forex) on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for you or your circumstances.
Before trading forex you should investigate all of the risks, including the possibility that you could lose more than your initial investment.
It’s important to consider your investment objectives, level of experience and risk appetite. If in doubt seek advice from an independent financial advisor.]
I may not be where I wanted to be, but Rome wasn't built in a day. What I've learnt and continue to learn, I believe is forming the foundations for what is yet to come. Everybody wants to make money from the markets right now, but to make money in any pursuit you have to invest time, energy and effort. You have to pay your dues and be prepared to take the good with the bad. If you lose, don't moan and whinge, but instead treat the loss as an opportunity to learn.
Through reflection and self-observation the true goal of trading is to get to know the real you and what you bring to bear in the markets. As far as I can tell, the majority of traders out there chase a perfect goal or system that will reap them untold rewards.
There is no such thing!
Success in the markets is about understanding you and what you do – it's about being honest about your personality traits and what is helping you, or in the beginning, more likely hurting you.
This personal introspection is difficult, but so important, and as I write this I'm reminded of something that happened last week.
On Friday morning (day 95) I did what I've done a thousand times before – and that my friends is the problem!
I got in my car and drove to a destination I know well, to meet a new executive career coaching client (in addition to trading, I also run a business called Career Codex). We'd arranged to meet at Hilton East Midlands Airport, a favourite choice for morning meetings, and a spot being located at junction 24 of the M1, within easy reach across the Midlands.
Expecting traffic, I left in plenty of time. On Friday though, it wasn't traffic that proved to be the problem...
...junction 24 has been chopped, changed and messed about with for quite a while now. It seems Highways England is determined to make things more complex and confusing, but let's leave that moan for another day.
On Friday, I exited 21's roundabout and expected to find the entrance to the hotel where it's always been. But today, while I could see the hotel (thankfully the building hadn't moved) the access road was gone.
I was immediately thrown into a state of confusion. I routed round and approached again, but still no entrance.
Thoughts raced through my head...
...is the hotel closed for refurbishment?
...what am I missing?
...where is the #amn#d entrance?
As human beings, while performing tasks we know well and do often, we often switch to automatic mode. Psychologists call this open loop control, a situation where we're pretty much on autopilot, relying on our subconscious mind with very little or no conscious intervention. If you've ever arrived at a destination with little recollection of the journey you just made, then you've succumbed to open loop control.
I was caught in this loop on Friday, and it was only on my third try to locate the hotel that I saw the entrance right in front of me. Accessible off the roundabout and clearly signed, I'd failed to notice it on my first and second attempts.
The human brain is clever, and the majority of the time this automation helps us go about our daily business without brain overload. Imagine if we had to process every task in our conscious mind in real-time.
Without the support of our subconscious mind we'd be a thousand times less productive. What's more we'd never sleep! We'd have to stay awake 24/7 to focus on the conscious act of breathing.
In currency trading this automation loop is not helpful. As I said above, in trading the only thing you can control is yourself. The market is far too big and complex for you, I or pretty much anybody else to have any influence at all on price action.
Working on yourself instead of chasing the unrealistic dream of finding the perfect system is what really matters. Yes, you need a system and a set of rules to follow, but what they are doesn't really matter that much.
What matters is that the system you choose needs to be in tune with your personality. It will never match exactly and the challenge then becomes monitoring and regulating your emotions in real-time as the market ebbs and flows.
Open loop control won't help you understand you. To do work on yourself you have to bring things out of your subconscious mind into conscious thought. The best way I've found to do this is to document everything I'm doing. The act of writing things down forces me to question every decision I make, and when I do make a mistake I have an audit trail to go back and interrogate what went wrong.
This morning I entered a long position in NZDCAD (T24L). This was using my Golden Gate strategy on a close beyond the 50 SMA.
Week 17 part 2 of the 36-month forex trading challenge is now available to watch on the STG FOREX TV YouTube channel. Once again and I'm in Dubai where it's hot, hot, hot!
If you like the video, I'd be very grateful for a like or a share please. Also be sure to 'Subscribe', so as not to miss any future episodes.
*********
Is it really possible to turn £50K into £1M? Over the next 36 months I'm going to find out by trading my personal account with full transparency.
Follow my 36-month challenge to turn £50K into £1M.
Read my blog here: https://stgforextvforexchallenge.blogspot.com
Subscribe on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyGySJ5IeDjq-DIJPU7nYvw
[Please note, the information presented is general educational material and does not constitute trading advice.
Trading foreign exchange (forex) on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for you or your circumstances.
Before trading forex you should investigate all of the risks, including the possibility that you could lose more than your initial investment.
It’s important to consider your investment objectives, level of experience and risk appetite. If in doubt seek advice from an independent financial advisor.]
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