Trading in the Zone

Once you learn to identify patterns and read the market, you find there are limitless opportunities to make money. But, as I’m sure you already know, there can also be a huge gap between what you understand about the markets, and your ability to transform that knowledge into consistent profits or a steadily rising equity curve.

eally not the case, at least not in the moment. Of the two possibilities that exist in this situation, he will undoubtedly experience the pain and fear, in

If your goal is to be able to trade like the professionals, you must be able to see the market from an objective perspective, without distortion. You must be able to act without resistance or hesitation, but with the appropriate amount of positive restraint to counteract the negative effects of overconfidence or euphoria. In essence, your objective is to be able to create a unique state of mind, a traders mentality.

You can't assume that learning about something new and agreeing with it is the same as believing it at a level where you can act on it.

Many of us have what we know to be irrational fears and simply choose to live with the contradiction because we don't want to go through the emotional work that is necessary to overcome the fear. In this example, the contradiction is obvious. However, in my many years of

working with traders, I have uncovered several typical contradictions and conflicts surrounding the

issues of risk and responsibility, where holding two or more conflicting beliefs can easily cancel out your positive intentions, no matter how motivated you are to be successful

It then becomes difficult to believe that we were ever the way we were before we had

It then becomes difficult to believe that we were ever the way we were before we had

the experience.

First, we

usually feel different.

If you're not afraid, you don't need courage. If you're not stressed, why would you need nerves of steel? And if

you're not afraid of your potential to get reckless, because you have the appropriate monitoring

mechanisms in place, then you have no need for self-control.

To use the analogy of software code, that shift would be equivalent to finding the flawed line in your mental system and replacing it with something that works properly. People normally describe this kind of internal mental shift as an "ah, ha" experience, or the moment when the light goes on. Everyone has had these kinds of experiences, and there are some common qualities associated with them.