How to deal with Emotional Swings in trading

[Joeboy]

One very thing that I have come to realize is that emotional swings are inevitable in trading. You can be feeling so confident and on top of the world after securing a huge profit, then suddenly the feeling of frustration and anxiousness sets in after a loss or setback. It's sometimes a rollercoaster.
What has always been helping me whenever this happens is to step away from the screen of my phone or laptop( as the case may be). I also try to stick to a plan, once I have set my entry and exit I try very much not to second guess cos the market is moving. Journaling my trade also helps me to notice patterns in my emotional response.
It's really not an easy one, but learning to stay calm and focused has really helped make better decisions. How do you manage you emotional ups and downs that comes with trading, love to hear your responses.

[Oshosondy]

This is very true as I am actively trading. There are days I will be winning but a time will come that I will lose. This time is very important to stop trading for like a day or more because if you do not stop trading after the lose, it is highly possible for the trader to continue to lose until his trading fund are all lost.

It is good to know when to close the position you open
It is also good not to trade until you feel like you do not lose. It can be a day and it can be up to a week break.

[Wiwo]

Just like I mentioned in my thread https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5544955.msg65427722#msg65427722 trading can have a high impact on our physiological being and our mood can directly be affected with whatever direction our trade is taking, most of the trader's that have become heavily addicted and high debt balance via they loses in trading have all arrived at such level via emotional imbalance while trading.

Since we know the negative implications of excessive trading, we need to make adequate plans to stay above such ugly realities, most times greed is the root cause of all of this, when a trader open a position with an amount he can't afford to lose he will definitely be u der tension to make profits from such.

[Stalker22]

Trading can definitely be an emotional rollercoaster.  When your hard-earned money is on the line, its totally normal to feel those swings from euphoria when you are up to anxiety when things turn south and  stepping away from the screens or journaling techniques can help in the moment, but they dont truly get to the root of managing emotions long-term. 

The reality is, as human beings with thinking brains that release hormones in reaction to wins and losses were wired to feel those ups and downs.  There is no escaping it completely.  The traders who thrive over the long haul are not the ones who master the illusive art of being emotionless robots.  They have made peace with the ride and roll with the movements while keeping their focus on their goals.

Doesnt mean its easy.  But accepting you will never fully eliminate the emotional factor and focusing more on building resilience, adaptability and perspective could go a lot farther than tricks that just paper over a fundamental human experience.  This game not for the faint of heart, thats for sure.

[Natalim]

Experience will be your best teacher. Emotional swings can be very bothering when trading, but we can’t do with that as it’s normal for us to feel high and low emotions. But eventually, when we get used to trade and have been exposed to different emotions and its respective outcomes, that’s when we will realize that we shouldn’t do this or do that so we can minimize from experiencing the possible negative outcome.

[Churchillvv]

I'm not an active trader but my brother(whoever I consider brother, whether blood or not)is, what he always says to me is that it's good to have someone in the business by your side some days when taking trading as they will help you during your emotional ups and downs, they can spot the error or your mistakes because they are not the one staking their funds so it's easy and they have no emotion to the trade.

He also further said that, if you're not lossing you will always thing what you are doing is right and best way to get over your losses is to stop take a nap and then get others to looking into your trading confirm your strength and weakness this will always be my top tier of emotional control when trading.

[Maslate]

Just know when to trade and when not to. Sometimes, you need to take a break if you think you aren’t productive to trade, or the market itself isn’t safe to trade. That way, you are becoming in control of your emotions which is a very positive trait, and which could lead you to prevent from losing too much, and maximize your winnings when you trade at its right timing.

[Botnake]

I guess there’s no way to prevent yourself from having to experience emotional swings when trading. That becomes your biggest challenge when trading, trying to get rid of failure trades due to some unwanted emotions that could ruin your focus and concentration when you are trading.

But let’s embrace that’s how traders are. You can’t be a good and successful trader if you can’t take full control of your emotions and future decisions when you are in the field of trading.

[mirakal]

The only thing I do when it happens to me is to take a pause and stop thinking about the situation. Keeping ourselves calm helps prevent making wrong decisions. Perhaps it is common practice by most, and I would say it works. Our minds manipulate us, and the more we think about the problem, the more it gives us pressure and harsh decisions, which mostly end badly. As traders, we need to learn to relax as well and sometimes keep our focus out of trading. We don't let our emotions control us.

[EL MOHA]

What has always been helping me whenever this happens is to step away from the screen of my phone or laptop( as the case may be). I also try to stick to a plan, once I have set my entry and exit I try very much not to second guess cos the market is moving. Journaling my trade also helps me to notice patterns in my emotional response.
It's really not an easy one, but learning to stay calm and focused has really helped make better decisions. How do you manage you emotional ups and downs that comes with trading, love to hear your responses.

I keep saying this, one of the major problems that a trader has to deal with is his psychology, this thing most often affect the outcome of your trading success and one of the best ways to improve ones psychology is to have a an extra income generating scheme aside trading this thing gives you freedom in the market and also confidence to trust your analysis. The major thing affects traders is the fear of losing and this fear leads them to lose more.

It is does without extra income that usually do revenge trading after losing, your idea of journaling is the best way and you need to also back test your trades again to see where the problem lies

[Sanitough]

That’s already a personal issue..  it’s all about emotional control. When you're trading, you should stick to your strategy, no matter what the market looks like. Emotions shouldn't be part of the plan. If you can't control yourself, then honestly, trading might not be for you. The biggest enemy isn’t the market but it’s you.

[Rruchi man]

How do you manage you emotional ups and downs that comes with trading, love to hear your responses.

Understanding that these emotional swings can occur can help you stay on guard against them.

When you make profits from a trade be cautious of your excitement so that it does not lead you into high expectations concerning your next trade number one and then secondly does not lead you into making wrong decisions concerning your next trade.

The high expectation set for the next trade will lead to dissapointment, that will cause the emotional swing to sadness. Maintain a stable mind.

[BitMaxz]

Well, we have the same way to deal emotions not just step away on the screen but I also tried to do other things like playing a games just to change my focus and let my trades hit SL or TP or sometimes I check it if it still didn't hit the TP I do a trail stop which is a good feature if you want to secure a profit automatically while the price increase or decrease. Atleast even you don't watch your trades you have a stop trail that automates your trading and exit automatically if the price shifted against your prediction.

[TastyChillySauce00]

Just set stop loss and take profit on your position, then forget it, so you can stick to your plan, always works most of the time for me.

You also seem to figure out your problem already, you keep watching the market, of course your emotion will be affected, those whales are playing both the chart and psychology, the market is also really driven by emotion sometime with all the panic sells and stuff.
By opening a position with SL/TP, you described your trade strategy clearly and you can easily stick with it.

[GreatArkansas]

In my view, emotional control is the most underrated skill in crypto trading, more important than technical analysis or timing.
If you can master your emotions, especially fear and greed, you'll not only make better trades but also protect your mental health in an extremely volatile market.

[michellee]

So it is related to how we can manage our emotion in any situation because that can affect to our action in trading. If you become emotional in trading, you can not think clear and analyze carefully because you will insist to profit. You will not carefully analyzing the market and that can be your mistake and lose the money.

If you are emotional because of trading, you need to calm down for a while and it is better to leave the market and relax your minds. That is important because if you still trading, you may difficult to analyze and will rush in making decision.

You will not see the time to enter the market because you are emotional and want to profit more or recover your lose before. Yes, we need to calm down and manage our emotion so we can analyze with full awareness and will not rush in decision.

[mindrust]

You need to get some psychology training for that first. Learn when humans get emotional and see if you follow the same behavior when you make trades. Pinpoint the reason first and then eliminate it.

What causes your emotional swings? Over trading? Are you carrying a larger position than you should? Once you realize you mistake and stop doing it, those emotions will disappear as well. It is not easy to master that but many people did it successfully. You too can.

[shinratensei_]

You will get used to it eventually if you got the experience.

Emotional swing is humane, especially if you see your trade result unfold slowly, but for veteran, they're used to it, consider it as a normal thing, sometime changing plan along the way is completely fine.
The only problem is if you prematurely closed your trade in negative PnL just because you're afraid while the market seemingly completely fine, you're imagining things and so on, that's where it become ugly.

My advice is, trade more often.

[adultcrypto]

This is very true as I am actively trading. There are days I will be winning but a time will come that I will lose. This time is very important to stop trading for like a day or more because if you do not stop trading after the lose, it is highly possible for the trader to continue to lose until his trading fund are all lost.

So with a single lose you will stop trading for day or more? That does not seem like what I know about handling the loses in trading because no matter how good you are as a trading, you cannot achieve a win rate of 100%. I don't know what method you use in trading and if it promises 100% win rate but the requirement of stopping to trade for a day because of a loss is not a great strategy. My trading style makes room for losses, but my target is that I should win more than I lose and my wins should be multiples of my losses.

[passwordnow]

One very thing that I have come to realize is that emotional swings are inevitable in trading. You can be feeling so confident and on top of the world after securing a huge profit, then suddenly the feeling of frustration and anxiousness sets in after a loss or setback. It's sometimes a rollercoaster.
What has always been helping me whenever this happens is to step away from the screen of my phone or laptop( as the case may be). I also try to stick to a plan, once I have set my entry and exit I try very much not to second guess cos the market is moving. Journaling my trade also helps me to notice patterns in my emotional response.
It's really not an easy one, but learning to stay calm and focused has really helped make better decisions. How do you manage you emotional ups and downs that comes with trading, love to hear your responses.

Just follow your plan, so stick to it. It's kind of hard when you think that you're already in profit and then you think that there's more to it. Satisfaction and contentment are going to play great part on your emotional control. Do not be greedy and take your profits simply. Don't be so futuristic with your mind when it comes to profit, we will never hit the top for taking profits but at least get close to it when you're taking it. I've sold too many times during the early day and that's probably why I have practiced being contented upon selling but I have a part of my stash that's good for long term holding.