Emotional roller coaster

[kat888]

hi there,


so here is the story: every time I got open positions and some or all of them are in loss Im feeling fine knowing its either gonna trigger a SL which i can afford or it will move into profit so I keep it calm and keep on monitoring for new opportunities. When all trades move into profit and keep on moving into profits further and further I cant work, I cant sleep yet I get so exhausted..
I try to distract myself with physical exercises, long walks but it barely helps.
Overall its very concerning as it seriously decreases my productivity.
Any advice on how to fight this???

 

[TheForexGuy]

I think you're suffering from a bit of anxiety fuelled by 'fear of loss'.

I see you mentioned 'trades', as in your take multiple trades at once. If that is the case - try to only take one trade at a time.

Most people tend to freak out like this when their trade is sitting in the negative, but you are saying you have trouble coping with trades that are moving in your favor?

 

[kat888]

yes, thats the issue: anxiety kicks in with trades moving in profits up until take profit triggered. All this is quite exhausting and annoying...

 

[TheForexGuy]

Are you worried about your winning trades turning against you?

Once you're in a trade, try closing down your trading platform - and no mobile apps either. Don't re-open it until the next daily candle close to check what happened. The more you keep looking at your trades throughout the day the more it is going to affect you.

Is anxiety a common thing for you outside of Forex trading?

 

[kat888]

both actually: worried its not moving fast enough to hit the take profit or turning against me and too excited when its nicely in profit and i see its gonna hit take profit. these two feelings mix into anxiety. And yes I have it quite often every time Im dealing with something that requires patience and time.
Its really hard not to look at your live positions when you actually working with MT while monitoring for other trades. Thats the problem number one!

 

[TheForexGuy]

You have to accept the market for the beast that it is.

Sometimes trades will hit target in 1 session, others can take two weeks. Sometimes a trade will swing in and out of profit for days before actually moving decently in your favor.

You just have to believe in your trading ability and your system. The set, forget and collect approach I believe is the best way to manage 'trigger happy' knee jerk reactions that occur when you try to micro manage things.

When you couple set, forget and collect with the one trade at a time rule, I believe that puts you in the best position to manage your anxiety, or at least work on it.

To dive into the issue any further than this I think would need the input from a trained psychologist - if the issue is really that severe for you. As my next suggestion would be to go out and do activities that de-stress you, but you already said that isn't working for you.

 

[kat888]

i got no anxiety at all when it comes to one trade at a time with set, forget and collect principle but I want to move on and make more money trading. Maybe its some kind of emotional adjustment im going through? Obv need to talk to professional..

 

[TheForexGuy]

i got no anxiety at all when it comes to one trade at a time with set, forget and collect principle

Stick with this then, it's pretty much what I do. Opening more trades that once is going to give any trade anxiety in my opinion, despite what you might hear. I've had in the past 3 trades open at once before and it put me on edge, and I felt like I needed to keep checking up on things. What you're experiencing in these circumstances is very normal.

I am sure some other traders could step in and verify this. Having multiple trades open can bring on anxiety and stress.

 

[kat888]

oh ok...
but how did you manage that pyramid case described in the course then? there were 3 trades...

 

[TheForexGuy]

Yes, it can push you to your limits, but I still view it as one whole trade plan. If one trade gets stopped out they all do they are structured to be tightly linked to one another.

Going out and taking 4-5 trades on multiple pairs at the same time is different and won't usually work out in your favor.