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

HANDLING TOXIC EMOTIONS

One of the most toxic of all emotions is resentment. Often, resentment occurs as a result of a loss and loss is the name of the game for traders. If a trader feels responsible for the loss, he will not feel resentment. But, if he feels that he is not responsible for the loss, resentment will often follow. For traders, losses can occur for reasons that are beyond their control, that is, they are the result of actions by others that are unethical, irresponsible, predatory, careless, and thoughtless, or purely accidental. For example:

• A trader may have lost a great deal of money in the market because his trading was suddenly interrupted by a person who should have known better, such as a spouse who demanded his attention for a trivial reason.
• Or he may have experienced losses created by a market that was artificially manipulated by an individual or group that reaped great rewards for themselves while incurring terrible losses for innocent investors and traders.
• Or a trader may have entered into a partnership with one or more traders who feathered their nest(s) at his expense or misrepresented their situation or made bad business decisions that cost him dearly.
• Or a trader may have purchased a trading system that came with guarantees or inflated results or misrepresentations, only to discover its problems, with no recourse, too late and after too much loss.
• Or a trader may have used a business service, such as an accountant or computer support company, which ...