In familiar environments and routines, we operate on autopilot. Nothing changes.
This lesson is challenging because, as a trader sitting at a desk, it can hard to shake things up. We are stuck at the desk. Same chair. Same computer screens. Same software and blogs. Same, same, same!
So if the greatest enemy of change is routine, which turns me into a walking-dead- autopilot-zombie, no longer actively conscious of what I'm doing or why... How do I keep change the constant?
Taking a vacation works wonders, I know. Brett is spot on when he describes the benefits of leaving my native environment and having to adapt to new people, cultures and new ways. This is how we can discover new facets of ourselves. But this is a very limited solution for obvious reasons.
It's up to my internal trading coach to keep myself challenged to stay fully conscious and alert to risk and opportunity.
Brett outlines 4 routine-busting exercises.
1. Seek out divergent views. This is one exercise that I already do well as I talk to other traders, read trading books, and follow ideas on twitter.
2) Examine the big picture. Again, I'm fairly decent at this. Keeping in mind the larger time frames is an absolute essential.
3) Examine related views. Here Brett emphasizes looking across instruments and asset classes and ETF lists. Again, this is something that I do. Today, the hotest sector in the market, GLD, was printing measured moves to the downside. A structural cue to embrace today's rally higher.
4) Take a break. This is something that i'm NOT good at. Especially after a big loss day or week. Pulling back and clearning out my head helps to generate fresh market views and, most importantly, to reflect on the losses and what can be learned from them.
I need to focus on breaking the mental routines, espeically if I'm trying to do away with an unprofitable pattern of thought and behaviour (like my blowup days).
Conciously thinking about my thinking is probably one of hardest habits to instill!
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