If you don’t get on the field and play then you will be missing out. Michael Schenker
On a day/week such as we are having you are either happy or sad. Happy if you are long and have skin in the game, sad if you missed out or were on the wrong side of the trade.
In this business especially in this type of market the window of opportunity is short. If you linger to long with positions you’re bound to get pasted.
As long as you have capital you’re always in the game but lose your precious chips – then you’re out of the game. When I miss out on days like this it’s frustrating.
I start asking questions: Why didn’t I have something on? Why couldn’t I have hedged a few positions? How flexible? Could I have traded differently?
When trying to answer these questions I have to keep them in context of how I trade, my style and remain consistent. We can always let the emotions of a big day have an influence, but I would rather keep a steady head.
Having a long trade with the futures down 17 Tuesday evening wouldn’t have made me feel good, likewise having a short position with the market gapping higher and reaching for 30 handles would have made me ill.
I will miss many opportunities – and so will you. I prefer to play within my own sandbox – it works best for me. Therefore missing out on a chance is not a tragedy, it’s just a part of trading.
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Denise Shull put out a great paper about conquering the 4 fears of trading. One of the fears is the fear of missing out.
We’ve all been there. How we handle the psychology of trading is critical to our long-lasting success or failures. I would like to share a blog that I found not long ago that is not specific to trading but can certainly be substituted.
We can all relate to this story. Have you found yourself like the little boy below? I certainly have. Step back, think about it and whether it really matters if you miss out on this one, for you will likely not miss them all if you are focused.
written by Leo Babauta, seen on zenhabits.net
A father and his son went fishing on a small boat, hungry.
The father helped his son reel in his first fish, and it was a beauty. “Great catch, son,” the father said.
“Yes, but I’m worried I’m missing out on better fish,” the son said. “What if I could catch a bigger, tastier fish?”
“Maybe you should try,” the father said.
And the son did, catching an even bigger fish an hour later. “A real beaut,” the father said.
“But what if there are better fish out there?” the son asked.
“Maybe you should try,” the father said.
And the son did, catching a bigger fish, then wondering if there were better fish, catching another, and so on.
At the end of the day, the son was exhausted. The father asked, “How did the fish taste?”
The son hesitated. “I’m not sure. I was so busy looking for better fish that I didn’t taste any of them.”
The father smiled contentedly, patted his belly. “Don’t worry. They were delicious.”
We are all of us like the son. We all worry, at some time or other, that we’re missing out on things.
It’s why we’re so busy — we take on so much because we don’t want to miss out. We take on dozens of goals and aspirations, because we don’t want to miss out.
But here’s the bare truth: we will miss out, no matter what. It’s inevitable. We cannot do or try everything in the world, even with lives twice as long. We cannot see every town and city, read every interesting book, watch every important film. We will always, always miss out.
Here’s the second, more important truth: if you always worry about what you’re missing out on, you will miss out on what you already have.
Don’t make a reading list a mile long — focus on the book in your hand. Don’t pack your vacation itinerary with every highlight of the city you’re visiting — walk around and enjoy what you find. Don’t worry about traveling the entire world — be delighted with the world around you. Don’t worry about what you’re missing online, or in the news — what you’re doing is good enough.
And let go of your long to-do lists and goal lists. They are a futile attempt to keep from missing out. You will miss out, but in striving to do everything, you’ll miss out on the wonder of the thing you are doing right now.
What you’re doing right now is all that matters. Let the rest go, and enjoy the fish you’ve already caught.
