Jared Tendler, mental game coach, discusses the mental game of trading. He explores the impact of personality on traders' performance and the importance of aligning strategies with one's personality. The episode also introduces the concept of the A, B, and C games in trading and emphasizes the significance of executing well-defined strategies. Valuable coaching resources and tools are mentioned, including Mentally Emetricing Live and the book Mentally Emetricing.
Understanding and improving the mental game is just as important as developing trading skills.
Having a systematic approach and strategy is crucial for traders.
Deep dives
Key Point 1: Trading is complex and requires both skill and mental/emotional control
Trading is a complex endeavor that goes beyond simply placing trades. It requires years of experience and skill to be successful. While the basics of trading can be learned fairly quickly, becoming a consistently profitable trader takes time and practice. Additionally, the mental and emotional dynamics play a crucial role in trading performance. Traders must be able to manage their own psychology, including handling losses, controlling emotions, and avoiding impulsive behaviors. Understanding and improving the mental game is just as important as developing trading skills.
Key Point 2: Developing a systematic approach and strategy is essential for successful trading
Having a systematic approach and strategy is crucial for traders. While some traders may prefer a more discretionary approach, even they have an underlying system or decision-making process. Developing a clear and effective strategy involves understanding indicators, criteria for trade entry and exit, and adapting to changing market conditions. This systematization helps traders make more informed and consistent decisions, reducing the impact of emotions and biases. Systematizing your strategy allows for greater clarity, consistency, and scalability as you scale up your trading.
Key Point 3: Continuous review and analysis of trading performance is vital for improvement
Regularly reviewing and analyzing trading performance is a critical step for improvement. Treating each trading day as a test and conducting a thorough review allows traders to identify mistakes, successful trades, and patterns in their performance. Collecting data, including thoughts, behaviors, and emotional states during trades, provides valuable insights into weaknesses and areas for improvement. By identifying early warning signs and patterns, traders can troubleshoot and make necessary adjustments to improve their performance. The review process is an essential tool for self-awareness and continuous growth as a trader.
Key Point 4: Confidence, expectations, and self-awareness impact trading success
Confidence, expectations, and self-awareness play crucial roles in trading success. Traders must have a realistic understanding of their skills and capabilities, neither overestimating nor underestimating themselves. Managing expectations is important, shifting from a mindset of gambling or getting rich quick to treating trading with the dedication and professionalism of a high-level athlete. Recognizing past accomplishments, correcting past traumas, and maintaining a growth mindset contribute to building confidence and resilience. Developing self-awareness helps distinguish A-game (peak performance), B-game (average performance), and C-game (lower performance) to make informed trading decisions.
In episode 418 of the Desire To Trade Podcast, we will be listening to the recording of an interview with mental game coach, Jared Tendler, and they discuss the mental game of trading. Learn how to bring yourself into a great mental state to improve your trading results.
The video is also available for you to watch on YouTube.