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to happen for you to acknowledge that your trade isn't working as you had planned, and what has to happen for you to exit a trade. You will develop a unique perspective on how the market works as you learn about the market, study the different technical and fundamental tools available, and develop your methodology to determine the price action, how you enter and exit a trade, and what type of risk parameters you use.
Trading as Metaphor
A trader's overall perspective on how the market works is often best viewed in metaphoric terms that compare trading with something else. A metaphor allows you to integrate your conscious, and unconscious beliefs into one harmonious reality. A metaphor can be empowering, helping you in your trading efforts, or it can be negative and prevent you from seeing the market effectively. To determine your metaphor for trading finish this sentence: "Trading is. . . . "
"Trading is a battle" is a metaphor that can carry many different emotional feelings. If trading is a battle, does it also mean that if you are not careful you can be killed? Does it mean that a losing trade is cause for great concern? Does it mean that if you are not careful you could lose your financial life? Does it mean that trading is only a battlenot the war? Does it mean all these things or none of them? Which ones carry the most intense feelings? Which ones enable the trader to respond out of virtue?
"Trading is a three-dimensional chess game" is a metaphor that probably has less negative emotional intensity than "Trading is a battle." ''Trading is like dancing a waltz" is yet another metaphor with probably even less negative emotional energy. How might your trading be affected if your metaphor for the markets was "Trading is like soaring with the eagles"?
It is impossible to tell, without delving into the rules, references, and values of the individual trader, if any of these metaphors is empowering or negative. However, we could say that in all probability a trader who views the market as a battle will see trading far more seriously than a trader who sees the market as a dance. The importance of a metaphor is that it creates a reality for traders that allows them to enter into a trade with a certain amount of faith. In a strict sense there are no right or wrong metaphors. However, in a general sense there are negative or empowering metaphors. These metaphors will evolve as your perspective of the market expands into a functioning methodology.

 
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