Tavis, also known as CoachT, has been hosted in many sessions of Astronaut Auditorium podcasts to share his experience and learnings throughout his trading career. In one of the podcasts with Astronaut Auditorium, he affirmed transitioning from part-time trader to a full-time trader.
However, he faced many ups and downs during his career as a full-time trader. While speaking about the recent trade success, he discussed many trials and tribulations he witnessed in the first month of full-time trading.
He faced the continuous losing streak of 14 days, as he did nothing but losing in the first two weeks and took majority of the days off in the third week, trading only on Thursday and Friday.
These two days turned out to be lucky for him, giving him the confidence and his groove back when he earned $950 in these two days.
How to deal with stress in trading
Disclosing how eye-opening and challenging the experience of being able to jump into full-time trading is, Tavis shared that the continuous pressure to make money and provide necessary things to the family is a really stressful time for him.
One of the biggest lessons that CoachT shared with the audience during his hard time in trading is to make sure you have a big safety net or an extra income source before you dive into that daring venture. He further stated that you should remember the lessons, not losses if you want to get over the fear of losing and overcome the stress.
Trading is a very unpredictable game and stress will impact your trade execution and decision-making, as you are not observing the market for what it is, but you are seeing it for what you want from it when you are anxious to make profits.
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Focus on the process not on the outcome
- One of the best approaches to deal with the stress is to stay concentrated on the process to execute your strategy, without focusing on the profit or loss.Moreover, accepting the losses are part of the process and trying to focus more on the factors which you can manage rather than investing your energy on the results that are out of control.
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Define practical and achievable goals and position sizing
- Establishing achievable goals is a significant keypoint to deal with stress and losing streak in trading, allowing you to stay motivated and disciplined.Moreover, setting the position sizing helps optimize the performance, manage risk/reward ratio, and overcome the stress.
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Don’t multitask and take breaks
- It is better to focus on one task at a time, such as one chart or market and not open multiple trading charts. Reading more than one or two charts can mix your thoughts and make you more anxious.On the other hand, taking breaks from stressful situations when you are continuously losing your trades appears to be helpful in clearing your mind and aligning your ideas.
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Avoid overtrading
- CoachT reflected on his tilt mode during the losing streak period, remarking that executing the large number of trades and chasing the market can make you further stressed and reduce the capital in the account.He shared his learning to avoid overtrading when you are agitated and practice mind exercises to reduce as much stress as you can.
How to maintain discipline in trading
CoachT emphasizes sticking to your trading rules and plans if you want to be successful because if you quit at any downfall in your career then what is the point of going through all the challenges and stress.
Some key suggestion and approaches about how to stick to your rules in trading include:
- Sticking to your trading rules involves believing in your strategy and trading plan, such as discipline is the key to achieve the goal.
- CoachT put it as keep pushing and keep going without giving up on all your hard work and struggle to become a full-time trader, underscoring the importance of patience in trading.
- He further highlighted the point to treat trading like your job or business and do not compromise on the rules of trading, even if you are losing in a streak.
Wednesdays just don’t work for me, stated CoachT
Most of the traders have some days that bring losses for them and are not lucky for trading. CoachT shared that Wednesdays just don’t work for him, as they always turned out to be the worst days of trading.
Moreover, he explained that when you face a substantial loss in the middle of the week, like Wednesday, and have only two days to make up for the losses, you are definitely going to take impulsive decisions, risking your trade strategy and capital.
Some traders have Friday while others have Monday as their worst trading days. CoachT suggested taking a break and not trading on that day. You can use these days to learn some things and take chances if you have good risk management and big net capital in your account.
How to start and succeed in trading
CoachT outlined valuable insight for new traders to begin their trading career and garner success. Some key recommendations are listed here:
- The beginners should start on a demo account, such as practicing their plan and strategies using virtual money without taking significant financial risk. It allows you to polish your skills and build more confidence while making decisions.
- Coach T suggested setting a tight stop loss level, giving it some space to breathe, such as fluctuations in market trends and conditions.
- Figure out what strategy works for you and understand the process without getting discouraged if you get losses in the start.
- Don’t get big headed or overconfident if you win one or two trades, thinking you can easily make money every time you trade because it is not the same game in every try. You can not predict what the coming trade is going to bring for you.
CoachT shared his future plan, quoting that he will be going to use prop firms to get some money and take some payouts with the goal to get maximum wins and return back to green in the upcoming months.