I had been noticing a lot more mentions on the trade of - when to hold and when to sell. This is always the magic question with no perfect answer. - Could def be some better and other idea’s out there - please share them.
I thought of a different way of taking profits and a slightly different mindset. We discuss goals quite a bit - but if it is helpful to anyone - why not make those goals more tangible. In the words of John Eliot PhD (who wrote some books I like), " Goal Setting is for Couch Potatoes" - without a plan to achieve the goal - it is pretty much pointless.
The alternative mindset I want to propose is to take an honest look at your portfolio, and then its balance, for this example we will use $1000.00. Then pick one bill you pay monthly, credit card, utilities, cable, and so on. let’s say this bill is $50 per month.
Our first goal should be to make $50 with the intention to withdraw that money, and pay said bill. This might happen on day 1 of the month or day 15. It is a very reasonable and practical goal of earning 5% on our money. After this is completed, we can have a winning mindset - Mission Accomplished. Then a secondary goal of earning an extra $100 - also a very practical goal of 10% gain. This might be from 1 transaction or 10. We might even slip a bit along the way and lose a couple of dollars but it helps keep the main goal in sight. Try 1 trade and lose $10 - (get out) now I know I need to make $110 to make up. This might help us focus more on what we gained vs what could have been.
(Note: Make sure you have a backup plan for whatever bill you choose things go wrong sometimes)
Little Snipper of the book - referenced.
The Secret Of High Performance People: Think Like A Squirrel
Have you ever seen a squirrel climb up a tree? They are very fast are they? Do you know that high performance people like athletes, leaders and politicians think like a squirrel?
They are well trained, disciplined, experience, smart and sometime gifted but the way that their brains work during performance is more like a squirrel brains instead of a Einstein`s brain.
What do I mean by that?
Like squirrels, these people do what they are best at without questioning their abilities. They simply trust their skills without questioning it. This state of mind is called the ” Trusting mindset “.
Imagine a squirrel climbing up a tree. Do you think the squirrel is thinking:
Oh my this is a tall tree, are my hands strong enough to climb this?
now once the squirrel reach the top of the tree there is a thin wire it needs to cross, do you think the squirrel thinks:
Oh my this is very tall, I am going to die and worst I need to cross this wire, who will feed my squirrel babies if something happen to me? let me do it slowly, left foot, right foot. Maybe I should go back I haven`t make it far yet.
Sounds ridiculous? so what does the squirrel actually do? they just go, climb the tree and cross the wire without hesitation and they do it really fast.
So what does it have to do with you anyway?
If you want to do a task let us say you want to do 10 push ups. Think like a squirrel, get on the floor and do the push up, do it fast.
Do not think What if my position is wrong? or What if I injured myself and some other BS
nope, just get on the floor and do the push up
Action drive out thoughts
If you want to do something and you hesitate or doubt just take action
What if I do it wrong…. Take action
What if I cannot do it… Take action
What If people will hate me… Take action
I don`t know how to do…. Take actionA
You are maybe wrong but never be in doubt, trust your skills. The trusting mindset.