Holding On To A Lost Cause
It boggles my mind how people, like in their personal lives, would hang on to a losing position in spite of knowing the obvious; that it is a lost cause.
Holding a losing position represents;
- Procrastination
- Denial
- Greed
- Lack of Self Confidence
- False Hope
- Fear of the Unknown/Future
- The act of taking too long to react to a losing position is translated as a direct reflection of the kind of procrastinator the person is. This person is usually the kind that leaves things late or delays getting things done immediately or delays getting things done themselves. Often, they blame or find excuses or have patterns of self-infliction. They never take responsibility for their own inabilities.
- This is also known as denial. They may have a plan but when things go against them, they will not address the problem first … instead they waste time reflecting on what went wrong so that they can get solace from the possibility that the solution will present itself.
- After denial comes greed. Not wanting to lose what they have is also greed. In spite of knowing that they have lost, they hang on greedily to what is an impossible situation even when they know they are running out of time. These people don’t know how to lose or can’t accept that they have lost. You will find that such personalities are also selfish and too caught up in their own wants and needs to give others the time of day.
- Denial comes from lack of self confidence. Such people often depend on others to pick up the pieces of their sad lives. They are unable to decide for themselves and almost always need someone as a crutch. They will forever be stuck in a rut and in spite of all the help they get, they will never improve and get up on their own feet. Those who lack confidence are also known to use people, take advantage of other’s sympathy towards them, especially those they know who care for them.
- With that limiting belief come a sense of hope, albeit a sense of false hope. Although akin to denial, false hope stems from the confidence in others, that they will deliver. Traders with this attitude always believe that the market will return to deliver a reprieve. But such patterns in life always prove that even upon receiving deliverance, such people never appreciate nor capitalize on their luck. They go on to make further losses thereafter.
- And upon finally accepting their loss when it is much too late, losers then fear cutting their losses for fear of the unknown or fear of the future. Their lack of self confidence doesn’t help them either as these people grapple with the reality that something has to be done or that doing nothing will result in nothing, which to them, is a better option.
If you find yourself helping such traders in their trades (or in their lives), know that you are doing them no favors. Send them to POE or leave them to their devices to learn for themselves what you have been doing for them. Sometimes, we call it ‘being cruel to be kind’.
If you are like the person mentioned here, then you’d better stop trading and find the internal wiring you need to do the right thing.
A losing position is an opportunity to weigh your losses for what you are. If you can’t identify with your losses, if you believe that the situation will remedy itself or if you think help will come, you are never going to achieve a higher goal.
If you blame (even if you blame yourself), find excuses, complain or t*y to justify the situation, then you are truly a loser. Don’t trade anymore.
You know who you are. And if you’re reading this up to this point … you have hope. Cut your losses early, find another trade and start all over again.
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[...] even that too has its difficulties. This difficulty of cutting losses stems from a deeper rooted mindset which comes from a person’s mentality and character. In other words, psychology … something that almost all workshops don’t address. [...]