I’ve noticed that after one or two solid winning trades, I lose all enthusiasm for trading. I get sleepy and restless at the same time. I just want to take a nap, or go outside and do something. Anything but keep sitting in front of those screens! I usually force myself to stick around at least until 2PM EST, but I can’t seem to find any more trades to take. But, I know the trades are out there, because I can always find another trade to take when I’m red for the day. Funny how that works!

Maybe a lot of traders don’t have this problem, because it seems like a lot of traders out there can’t stand to be away from the markets. I enjoy trading, but I don’t have any real drive to do it beyond needing to pay my bills. I definitely don’t have any sort of gambling addiction.

So, the last two days I’ve been trying a way to attack this problem… I offer myself small rewards to continue trading. In particular, the last two days I said to myself: Just find one more winning trade, and then you can quit and go see a movie.

Making this deal with myself has worked wonders so far. What do I get? Having a goal perks me up and helps me focus. After the trade, I get to quit early. Then, I get to go see a movie (or have a massage, or buy a book, or whatever I chose). And, any winning trade I find will make more money than I’ll be spending, so I come out ahead financially.

This is kind-of a cousin to the suggestion I made long ago: go spend half the money you’d lose on yourself, instead of trading through a bad day. At least then you’re enjoying the money instead of throwing it away.