Thread by @redxbt

We all see winners here, every home run, every insane call.

I’ve yet to see though, people posting a losing period, how they managed it and what they learned.

This is my current equity curve.

A thread on headspace, fear and some takeways for moving forward.

First let’s take a look at the first half of the PNL (it took me a month to get used to the new params I had, so excuse that bit of time).

Looks like price action wouldn’t you say? Could even do TA on it. Anyway, active, volatile and trending, upwards.

Lots of action was taking place, everything was going up, price was hectic, everything was vibrant. Aside from the market, IRL was pretty normal, nothing bothered my trading, all eyes on the money.

Second half is a different story, with a different headspace. I had lost 10% after some chop, and after this I can’t trade for a while. Fair I guess. You lose what’s not used, right? You become stale.

Part of my loss was caused by a small incident with the stops orders the exchange offered that forever ruined my peace of mind, and as a discretionary trader, this is all you have besides your edge. Fear starts to creep in...

Moving on, I was planning a move to the EU, and this is where life had way more attention than anything. I didn’t do much related to trading this time off, didn’t really ponder my case, thought of it as just a normal loss.

This is where the second half of the PNL comes in. Life took over, trading took the backseat, and the issue I had with stops aggravated the situation exponentially. I wasn’t myself, I was truly babysitting positions. No control, just fear.

Life, peace of mind gone, long only in a stale/downtrending market, 10% limit getting closer and closer, it all came together. The PNL shown above is the result.

What comes next?

Feelings of trading isn’t for me, asking am I the only one or is this normal in a trader’s career, just plainly feeling terrible about it.

This isn’t helping at all though, so I spoke with fellow traders and also posting this thread, which I’m sure will help others aswell.

I’m really lucky to be surrounded by top tier traders, namely @pandilladeflujo and another group I can’t disclose. These people are really in the 2nd st. dev. from the average trader, possibly 3rd.

Talking with them, especially @Glimmerycoin, really made me reflect and not feel alone in this. Most important takeaway for me was to go back to my roots and be the best at my own edge, and to not mix myself with certain limitations.

General takeaways though, include:

>Master of one, pick your edge and continuously master it
>Be in your playground, do not trade where this edge cannot be executed, or with people who won’t allow it
>Suck it up and breathe, recall that by making money, you’re better than most

You’re already better than the majority by making money, remember that. Stick to your edge and don’t let anything push you from it, not even yourself!

Hope you guys found this helpful, feel free to discuss your own rough patches aswell.