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trading for five hours. If we can't do mock trading, we will sit through at least one or more complete market session watching the indices and gaining an understanding of what the numbers mean. We also determine that we will seek assistance in interpreting the data from someone who knows the software and can explain the intricacies of its use. |
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The goal of knowing the software will be met when we are able to use it in real-time trading without hitting any wrong keys, which is objective and measurable. |
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We also decide that a second condition of reaching the goal is a loss of feeling overwhelmed and a growing comfort and familiarity, such that the software begins to feel like an aid, rather than a burden. This is a subjective judgment but one which can be reasonably determined as to whether we have met it. This is an example of an area in which the assertive mode of taking control by doing is appropriate to meet the goal. |
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Here is a second positive, assertive mode example. Let's say Janice, 44, an active trader at home for about a year, comes in and tells me she has developed a case of "trader's block." Although normally not an issue, suddenly she finds that pulling the trigger to enter a trade becomes problematic, fraught with fear and anxiety. She knows what she wants to trade and the price she want to trade it at. But when she goes to enter the trade, she shies away and can't seem to muster the courage to execute. She feels out of control. |
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We decide that in order to figure out what the block is about we will review how she has been feeling about previous trades. After a cursory review of her journal of trades and how she was feeling when she made them, it becomes obvious she made some bad trades that she wasn't sure about. She got burned, losing more than she was comfortable with. |
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In talking to me, Janice further realized that she was hesitant to tell anyone about the losing trades, because the amounts she lost were more than she was used to, andtruth be toldmore than she could afford. She waited two months after she had the idea to consult me before actually coming in. Janice knew she was losing more than she could afford because she had set a daily amount that she could lose and not jeopardize her capital for other trading days. So, she was feeling embarrassed and ashamed, shown by not wanting anyone, including me, to know how many losing days she had sustained. And she was scared because she had lost too much, not paying attention to her established limits. |
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