After a big move like yesterday, emotions naturally are stronger. On days like today – the day after, the propensity  to trade in response to our P&L is much greater than usual.

On one level, the psychological backdrop of days like this is that it is all too easy to slip into trading our P&L, and not trade the market. I say one level, because there are deeper levels, but that’s beyond the scope of my blog…those deeper levels are more individual to each trader.

But a good question to ask yourself: no matter what your deeper psychological issues:

How much of what I’m doing or contemplating of doing right now is a response to my P&L?

I know in my own trading, and I see this in my clients as well, the more honest we are with that self-directed question, usually the better we trade. We should trade the market, not our P&L.

If you catch yourself trading your P&L more than the market, consider my Advanced Course, designed to address problems like this that all traders face. It is ‘heavy duty’ trading psychology with a lot of actionable steps to improve your performance. It’s for  traders who are serious about improving. And if you haven’t already, sign up for my free email newsletter that gives you professional trading psychology tips.