Trading on Target: How to Cultivate a Winner's State of Mind

GETTING BACK

Why would a trader want to get back at the markets, or at anything for that matter? Traders who respond with anger when things do not go their way usually have a well of anger that is filled to the top and erupts at the smallest provocation. In my experience, traders who respond with anger have deep-seated issues that have never been addressed. Their anger is not a healthy response; it is a habitual response that creates health problems. This anger is driven by certain feelings and worldviews that feed on each other. For example, a trader who is habitually angry:

• Feels, at a deep level, powerless and victimized; that is, he suffers from passivity and passive aggression.
• Believes that the world is out to get him and that it is an unfair world.
• Often comes from a dysfunctional home or social environment, in which the significant people in it were unable to solve their own problems, create any success in their lives, or develop happy relationships.
• Has a need to even the score in life in order to feel better about himself.

Attempting to get back at the markets is a strategy perfectly designed to create self-sabotage and failure. By personifying the markets, a trader who wants to get back at them is caught in an emotional trap and is unable to see that the markets are not personalized. They do not feel and they do not care. The only one who will get hurt is the trader himself. Trading out of anger and a need for payback can only cloud a trader’s judgment and focus, preventing ...