Coming off of our last post about emotions while trading we talked about having reminders to help prevent any emotions and help you put out any fires before they start. A reminder is there to simply help you remember what you need to be during in the heat of the moment. We all know that when you are focused on trading or in the middle of a trade you can lose focus of the bigger picture. This can also lead to forgetting about what we talked about in our last blog about putting out the fires before they start. Lets look at a few reminders we can use to help keep us at the top of our game.
Alarm Clock.
On PC's and most computers you have the option to add an alarm. I personally set an alarm to go off after the first 5 minutes of trading and every 15 minutes after that. This is done to help remind myself to keep putting out the fires. Some like to jot notes in there journal and some like to add notes on paper. Whatever you prefer make sure you are keeping track of your mental state and the status of your fires. The alarm should be set automatically so it is one less thing you need to worry about doing. If your computer does not come with an alarm there are many free downloads out there.
Hang it up.
If you have seen my trading desk you will notice that on the walls I like to keep reminders. I have my rules on the wall with a handful of other sayings and reminders. I personally am a very visual person and being able to look to my right and see what I need to is awesome. It helps keep me focused and the visual reminders and very easy to take in. If you do not like the alarm clock idea then I would suggest that you add your notes and rules to the wall or keep them on your desk. this way you will be able to quickly glance over and be reminded on what you should be doing.
These are two very simple ideas on how to remind your self to keep putting out those fires before they even start. Just like our simple approach to trading we need to take a simple approach to maintaining our mental state. If it is too complicate or cumbersome you wont do it. Just like we talk about in the course K.I.S.S "Keep It Super Simple".
Comment down below on your favor reminder.