Beginners - Kill your emotions

A lot of people are explaining that new traders should ' kill their emotions', but we always have to consider the fact that, we are not robots! We can't just simply switch off our emotions. But we can train our selves to resist the temptation of using them in trading and the best way to do that from my experience is with demo trading accounts. Manage to double at least 2 or 3 demo accounts, and you are ready to begin learning trading with real money.

@martinkolbe We are not robots, even worse - we are forex traders :-D In fact, it is impossible for a mentally healthy man to switch off emotions. So the best way out is to handle them and make them work for trading properly.

Pumentio posted:
@martinkolbe We are not robots, even worse - we are forex traders :-D In fact, it is impossible for a mentally healthy man to switch off emotions. So the best way out is to handle them and make them work for trading properly.

I couldn't agree with you more

come on guys, ofcourse you can't switch off your emotions, but it's all about the experience. Every adult mentally healthy person could do it

Surely it is impossible to 'kill' or 'turn off' emotions, the difficulty is that exactly these emotions should be perceived while trading differently in comparison to every day life, therefore we need to suffer losses to learn how to handle ourselves.

Emotions are an integral part of who we are as human beings, turning them off completely is not possible, nor is it healthy to try and do so. One can and should, however, learn how to manage them and keep them under control when trading.

Controlling emotions or killing emotions means that you must not commit emotional trading mistakes.I know that human beings cannot fully control their mind.But in trading controlling our emotions is very vital so that we can win in forex trading.
      One single mistake can destroy an entire trading account that is build over the years. So we should be a master of mind control.Otherwise we can't win.

Generally speaking, one shouldn't be taking risks big enough that would lead to the draining of an entire account because of one mistake.

Maybe some healthy practices like meditation can actually help us. The point is not to turn off emotions but to learn how to recover mentally from unexpected situations and the stress involved. I think this comes with experience.

Or maybe we should all just automate and the problem goes away. I realised many years ago I was the weak link in all of this. So I automated myself out of the process.

Never looked back.

theHand posted:
Or maybe we should all just automate and the problem goes away. I realised many years ago I was the weak link in all of this. So I automated myself out of the process.

Never looked back.

Same here, every time I open a manual trade I end up kicking myself. The only manual thing one should do is 'fund account'.

CliveCampbell posted:
Maybe some healthy practices like meditation can actually help us. The point is not to turn off emotions but to learn how to recover mentally from unexpected situations and the stress involved. I think this comes with experience.

I've seen people recommend meditation before. Does this actually help though? Has anyone here tried it?

mlawson71 posted:

CliveCampbell posted:
Maybe some healthy practices like meditation can actually help us. The point is not to turn off emotions but to learn how to recover mentally from unexpected situations and the stress involved. I think this comes with experience.

I've seen people recommend meditation before. Does this actually help though? Has anyone here tried it?

Personally I haven't, but I think a better idea would be to concentrate on profits. Then you have a 'trading lock' as I just call it in joke: from the one hand, you have deposited as much as you are adequately able to loose, from the other hand, you can get more money than you actually have and this can serve as stimulus to adjust your emotions correctly. Just my opinion

mlawson71 posted:

CliveCampbell posted:
Maybe some healthy practices like meditation can actually help us. The point is not to turn off emotions but to learn how to recover mentally from unexpected situations and the stress involved. I think this comes with experience.

I've seen people recommend meditation before. Does this actually help though? Has anyone here tried it?

I use it to get out of the context for a while. It helps me refresh my mind after difficult situations. It is very helpful even for a few minutes. Key is to control the breathing. If you feel comfortable with the idea, I can recommend everyone try it.

To be honest, I used not to believe in meditation. The thing is that you really need experience and patience in order to turn off your emotions sometimes. But to get to this actual point – there is no better way than using meditation. It will really help you become more calm, reduce the stress and most important, it can help you handle your emotions. Meditation is something really simple but VERY HELPFUL. I recommend it to everyone!
(based on real experience from my side 😄) Cheers!

theHand posted:
Or maybe we should all just automate and the problem goes away. I realised many years ago I was the weak link in all of this. So I automated myself out of the process.

Never looked back.

@theHand Totally agree, emotions kill a trade/trader! Do you have any tips for us newbies?! :)

@Lesterkobi Sometimes it can be difficult to concentrate on profits if one's anxiety is getting in the way. I think it's a good idea to both try to concentrate on them and to look for ways to manage one's stress.

@RPatell Does it help you on a long-term basis too?

TiffanyK posted:
To be honest, I used not to believe in meditation. The thing is that you really need experience and patience in order to turn off your emotions sometimes. But to get to this actual point – there is no better way than using meditation. It will really help you become more calm, reduce the stress and most important, it can help you handle your emotions. Meditation is something really simple but VERY HELPFUL. I recommend it to everyone!
(based on real experience from my side 😄) Cheers!

Is it really? I should give a try.

mlawson71 posted:
@Lesterkobi Sometimes it can be difficult to concentrate on profits if one's anxiety is getting in the way. I think it's a good idea to both try to concentrate on them and to look for ways to manage one's stress.

@RPatell Does it help you on a long-term basis too?

@mlawson71 Yes, it is part of my life, not just when I am trading. I know in some cultures it is more popular than in others but everyone can try it and see for themselves 😄 I think if we are healthy we can better concentrate on the profits and what matters.