The price action moved steadily upward on the 5 minute Russell E-mini chart. At that moment Stacey sighed heavily as she was in a short which was prompted by a level upon level supply zone that she had identified on the 60 minute time frame. She had placed her stop just above the top zone’s line amounting to 3 points. She had faith in her trade plan, but the price action seemed to be of another mind. It was perilously close to stopping her out. She couldn’t help but think about the many times that the price action hit her stop, took her out, then retraced to go on and hit the planned target leaving her behind and bemoaned. But, she also remembered the many other times when she gave in to the anxiety that acted like a pressure cooker in her chest till she couldn’t take it anymore and moved or removed her stop only to incur drastic consequences.
Just then Stacey took a deep breath and called her trading buddy Cathy. They were in a mastermind group together. Cathy and Stacey traded some of the same instruments and as well they had done some extensive work on their mental game vowing to be there for one another and for the other members in the community they had formed. Cathy could see that the call was from Stacey and quickly answered her phone…even though she was in a trade and would otherwise not have allowed herself to be distracted. Stacey quickly shared with Cathy what she was facing in the trade. Cathy then asked Stacey: “What matters most in this trade Stacey, following your plan and your rules, or giving in to the urge and throwing your A-Game out of the window?” It only took a moment for Stacey to be reengaged with what was most important in that moment…following through with her plan and rules. She thanked Cathy and said good bye. Stacey was able to endure the discomfort of her anxiety as she documented the trade and the phone exchange in her Thought Journal. Moments later… Continue Reading
