What a day with firefighters taught me about trading.

-It's been about 13 years since I took Leadership training. During the course I was required to do a ride-along with the local firefighters to see what their experience was like. It wasn't a burden at all for me. I would love to spend all of my Friday nights that way if I could.

During the ride-along as we waited for an ambulance to come and pick up someone needing help I asked the firefighters, How do you do it? How do you deal with constant crisis, tragedy, and dangerous situations all of the time?

​He answered, "You go into your training. You do what you are trained to do. Allowing your emotions to take control does no one any good. You are not helping the people that need help, you are not helping your team, you are not helping yourself. The most important thing is to do your job and go home at the end of the day." 

This discussion has come to mind as I am learning day trading and the other types of investment strategies that I am practicing now. Not at all to say that trading and investing has the same weight or gravitas as the real crises and danger that firefighters face. What I am talking about are the strong emotions and the panic that can occur when things are going against you. Instead of panicking and getting emotional which helps nobody, stick to the training. Stick to your trading plan and work the problem. 

The first thing to do is to put safety guides in place when you begin a trade. There are strategies that you can learn from programs like the one taught at livetraders.com that helps to mitigate that risk. And where no trades are risk- free, the risk can be greatly reduced using trade management strategies.

The other important thing is to train. Paper trading in a simulator before investing actual money is a way to feel the feelings and manage the trades before your actual paycheck is on the line.

Paper trading is a challenge as I have not found one yet that really allows a person to practice day trading in a meaningful way. But learning the mechanics of the platform has value. You don't want to learn how to fly a plane in mid-flight. That's a recipe for disaster. 

Once you have a plan, a platform that you feel comfortable with, and the education to spot what are most likely to be winning patterns. Then work your plan in the moment. When you have an outside source to rely on then the emotions are less likely to guide you into making irrational decisions that can put you in a bad place financially.

​This advice can be used for many things in life. Don't make panic decisions on the fly, have a game plan ahead of time and rely on it when things go sideways as they will in life.

Work the problem, work your plan, take it moment by moment and breathe until it is done. 

And in the great wisdom of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Don't panic!  

"You go into your training. Do what you are trained to do. Allowing your emotions to take control does no one any good. You are not helping the people that need help, you are not helping your team, you are not helping yourself. The most important thing is to do your job and go home at the end of the day."