Renowned trading coach Price Headley, author of "Big Trends in Trading", once wrote about the dangers of letting your ego control your trading decisions, especially the three critical decisions of how much money to risk, when to enter a trade and when to get out.



"The ego desires to make discretionary decisions because it desires to appear sophisticated, and daring, and to relieve boredom. But the point of trading is not sophistication, or excitement. It is to make money. So the key question to ask is, 'What is the most effective way to trade?'. And the answer is, 'Very systematically'."

The key to successful trading, he concluded, is the consistent application of clear, well-conceived and objective trading rules. One of the cruelest paradoxes of this incredibly fascinating and challenging pursuit is that trading seems to offer so much freedom, seemingly unlimited freedom to those who are successful at it, yet requires so much regimentation and self-control. An out-of-control trader, whether rookie or seasoned veteran, will crash and burn quickly. A trader in control of his emotions has the game nearly won at the start.

The problem is, once the game is on, self-control seems to evaporate like water in the Gobi desert. But a good set of trading rules will give the newbie a fighting chance, and keep the veteran in the game long after many of his or her fellow traders have moved on to less stressful pursuits. Your rules don't have to be sophisticated or designed by a Nobel Prize-winning economist. In fact, the simpler the better - as long as they are clear and as long as you follow them! Otherwise you will succumb, as every trader does on so many occasions, to what the trading psychology guru Mark Douglas called "The Four Primary Fears".

In his classic book "Trading in the Zone", Douglas wrote that all trading errors - every single one - result from succumbing to one of these Four Primary Fears:

1. The fear of being wrong.

2. The fear of losing money.

3. The fear of missing out (on the trade and profits).

4. The fear of leaving money on the table, or giving back open profits.

These fears lead traders to second-guess their well-designed systems, causing them to exit before an exit signal is given, or to jump in before an entry signal is given. We've all jumped into trades too soon, afraid that the market was going to run away without us. And we've all jumped out too soon, whether second-guessing the entry and not waiting for the trade to develop or snatching the quick profit instead of letting the trade play out and hit our target. Witness the Four Primary Fears in action.

The solution?

1. Have a well-designed (and profitable) system.

2. Have a clear set of rules for entering and exiting trades.

3. Follow your rules!

A well-designed system allows you to trade securely, even serenely, in the knowledge that over time you will make money, and that the result of any single trade doesn't matter to the profitability of your system. After all, losses are part of the best systems ever designed. So is giving back some open profits on each trade. To expect otherwise is to expect, literally, perfection! And in this business, as in life, that is not rational!

So, have faith in your system and faith in your rules and trade well. If your system is a good one you will make money. But perhaps just as importantly, if you follow the rules of your system, instead of reacting to your emotions when deciding whether to enter or exit a trade, the whole enterprise of trading will be much more enjoyable for you.

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