The old saying goes, "The market can either make you or break you." How it ends up is really up to you. There is really never any accurate method in which to make predictions where the market is concerned. You do what you can to make the most educated decisions that you can, but over all, you are bound to find that there will be signs along the way which can make a trade you just made suddenly look like a bad idea. During that critical trading period, you might believe that the sudden downcast predictions are true and lose hope in your trade. Or you can choose to believe in your own judgment, your die diligence, and the luck of whatever special trinket you use to sway the winds of good fortune in your direction.
The point is, either way, the trade is over with. You made a decision and you need to follow it through the best way you know how. Your mind set at this time will determine an awful lot, especially how the remainder of your trades go. Blaming the market, the media, or a sudden unanticipated event makes you a victim of the market. Accepting responsibility for your decisions, whether strong or weak, puts you in control.
Does it matter? It absolutely matters, almost as much as how you laid out your plan and how well you did your research. If you opt to be a victim of the market it affects every other trade you execute. When you accept responsibility for your decisions you are in control of your financial picture, and that also affects every other trade you execute.
When we believe we are a victim of the market, then we make decisions based on nothing more than luck. We almost (on a very subconscious level) have submitted to the idea that it doesn't matter what we do because the market will decide who wins and who loses. When we accept our share of responsibility, then we know we have the power to make a bad day, week, month, or even a bad year into a better situation by evaluating our trading plan, the way we go through our due diligence process, the timing of our executions, and on what we are basing decisions.
This puts in complete control, creates a sense of calm and ease even during turmoil, and gives up the power we need to remain optimistic. Because the truth is that we all make decisions about where we put our money and sometimes it is a good decision and other times it is a poor decision. The exact same trade might be a good decision at one time and a poor decision at another time, depending on market conditions. By executing our trade, we know that we are responsible for the outcome. If we wanted to blame someone (or something) we would hand our cash over to a broker and let them do the work for us.
If you spend your time being a victim of the market, then you are wasting way too much of the psychological energy that you need to devote to earning money, not creating an entire court room defense against an imagines prosecution. Owning your own decisions allows you to be empowered, even in times of loss.
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84
Date Published :
Dec 9 2008