In psychology to beIn the regionIt is more commonly referred to as “flow.”
This concept was proposed by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi (try saying it out loud 3 times!) and he describes it as a state in which a person feels fully engaged and fully focused on a particular task.
Too often, we ignore focus as the primary factor behind this feeling and, instead, associate it with superstitions or rituals.
This is especially common among athletes who believe that there is a causal relationship between a given circumstance and the outcome.
For example, some of you may know that Michael Jordan wore his blue UNC pants under his Chicago Bulls uniform for good luck.
But in reality, it comes down to how well you can maintain focus and pure concentration. In this state of mind, you compartmentalize everything into one area and focus on nothing but the activity at hand. You're not even thinking or feeling what you're doing – to borrow from our friends at Nike, you're “just doing it.”
The question now is: “How do you stay in the trading zone?” Here are three ways that may help you:
1. Keep your stress levels under control
Just like your cholesterol levels, you should focus on controlling your stress levels as well.
Notice I didn't tell you to de-stress. As I've said in the past, it could be good for you.
Stress in the form of excitement can make you view trading as not just a job or a chore, but more like an adventure. Hence, it makes you more engaged and focused in trading.
But of course, you cannot let your stress levels get too high as it will likely have detrimental effects on your trading. If you let stress get the best of you, you may develop trading paralysis because fear of the unknown and anxiety cause you to reevaluate your analysis.
2. Be confident
One problem that many traders face is that they pay too much attention to recency bias, especially when they are losing. They allow these losses to affect their confidence in their new trades, allowing fear to control them and prevent them from making trades, even if they have strong setups.
However, you should know that the best traders know how to focus on the brighter side of their trading which subsequently helps them manage their confidence (and ego). They realize that they must have confidence in their business plans and be confident that they can prevail in the long run.
Of course, I understand that feeling confident can't happen overnight. It is a skill that must be learned and developed.
There are some techniques you can implement to boost your self-confidence. Focusing on the process, maintaining deliberate practice, and being optimistic is usually enough!
3. Be prepared
You have to put in time, work and effort into preparing your trading plan. Your trading plan will give you an edge in your trading and increase the odds in your favor.
Not only do the most successful traders succeed because of what they do during market hours, but what they do before and after market hours is off for a long time.
Being prepared also creates a calm atmosphere that allows you to maintain your focus when the market does something unexpected or doesn't go your way. If you have already planned what to do in times of unexpected volatility, you are less likely to panic. Instead, you'll be calm, collected and confident!
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with having your own set of rituals when trading, but you have to be responsible for your actions and not blame chance or fate.
Wouldn't you say it's much easier to stay in the zone when you know what you're doing right than to look at your lucky polka dot socks to explain your winning streak?
Are you looking for your own place to record your market observations and trading statistics? If so, check out TRADEZELLA! It's easy to use
A blogging tool that can lead to valuable insights about performance and strategy! You can easily add your thoughts, plans and track your psychological state with each trade. Click here to see if this is right for you!Disclaimer: Babypips.com earns a commission from any signups through our affiliate link. When you subscribe using our affiliate links, it helps us maintain and improve our content, much of which is free and available to everyone – including Pipsology School! We appreciate your support and hope you find our content and services useful. Thank you!