Quick Thinking

Have you ever watched the last minute of a close football match and felt excited? When you are anticipating what will happen next, you often feel a little high, especially if you expect a desirable outcome. Humans like excitement. Whether it is a traffic accident on the way to work or the last scene of a murder mystery on television, we like suspense. Trading is naturally exciting, but if you are a winning trader, you do not put on trades for sheer excitement. Losing traders seek out thrills. Winning traders assess the market action rationally, make a sound trading plan, and calmly trade the plan. It may seem boring at times. But it doesn't always need to be. If you "think fast," you can spice things up.

Have you ever experienced racing thoughts, and felt a sense of eagerness, urgency, and wild exhilaration? Perhaps you were trying to meet a deadline, and felt at the top of your game, as if you were not only going to meet the deadline but also do a great job. You've probably also felt this sense of eagerness, urgency and exhilaration when you were about to close a big winning trade. When you are about to take home huge profits, feeling excited is understandable. If only we could bring this sense of excitement to the more mundane tasks of trading, such as when we are scouring charts for the next high probability setup. Increasing the speed of your thinking may offer a solution.

How can you think faster as a trader and sharpen your mental edge? Thinking fast is not the same thing as acting impulsively. Trading with the proper mental edge demands that you feel calm and rational, but rather than allow your mind to wander unenthusiastically, you want to push yourself to think with more attention. Rather than let your thoughts drift, focus on your trading. Try to block out distracting thoughts, and intensely focus on your immediate experience. Try to search for new setups more rapidly. Run through possible scenarios more rapidly. Plan more rapidly. If you can increase the speed of your thinking processes, you will feel more creative and optimistic and this state of mind can help you discover new insights. That said, it is essential to avoid trading impulsively. Think fast while you are planning the trade, but make sure you have a clear head before you execute the trade. Again, the idea is to "think fast" when you are in the planning stages of a trade.

Trading is a demanding profession. To make profits day after day, it is necessary to find new high probability setups. It can be a intimidating task, and if you are not careful, you can feel beaten down. But when you feel a little down, think fast. Your mood will pick up. You will see new possibilities, and trade at your best.