top of page
Search

Trading with Ghosts: How to Stop Letting the Past Control Your Next Trade

How Emotional Residue, Forgotten Losses, and the Monkey Mind Keep Traders Stuck — and What to Do About It



ree


1. The Illusion of Simplicity


"Buy. Sell. Repeat. So why does it feel so hard?"


Trading looks simple from the outside. You sit in front of a screen. You wait for the right signal. You click.


The chart doesn’t lie. The levels are clear. The setup is textbook. And yet, when the moment comes—you hesitate. You jump early. You freeze.


Why? Because trading isn’t just about seeing clearly. It’s about feeling clearly. And most traders are walking into the session not with a clean slate—but with a suitcase full of scars, fears, and ghosts from trades gone wrong.


👉 If you're struggling to build a system you can trust, we recently held a powerful community workshop that walks you through the core of designing your own trading process. From understanding your setups to creating a plan you can believe in — this session inspired many in our community. If you missed it, catch the replay here:




2. Meet the Monkey Mind: The Hidden Trader Saboteur


"You built the plan. He ripped it up."


There’s a mind inside your mind. A fast, impulsive, emotional one. The monkey mind. It doesn’t care about your trade plan. It doesn’t care about risk-reward. It cares about avoiding pain.


The monkey mind remembers every loss, every mistake, every time you felt like a fool. It swings wildly from fear to greed, from revenge to regret. And it only shows up when it matters most.


You can do perfect prep. You can journal for hours. But the moment the market opens, he’s there. Whispering. Panicking. Pulling you away from your edge.


3. Story: The Perfect Plan That Never Survived the Open


Last Tuesday, I had the plan.


I had mapped the range. I saw the clean gap. I knew exactly what I was looking for: a tight opening range break. High volume. Quick partial. Done.


The bell rang. Price hovered. Consolidated.


Then came the break. But I froze. Because just five days earlier, I took the same setup—and it faked out. I lost. Hard.


So this time? I hesitated. Then chased. Then stopped out.


Not because the setup failed. But because I wasn’t in the present.


I was trading a memory. Not the moment.


4. The Baggage We Carry


Every loss that you don’t fully process becomes emotional residue. It piles up. Slowly. Quietly.

And then it starts to drive your actions:


  • You skip A+ setups because of a one-time failure.

  • You oversize to recover an old loss.

  • You hesitate because your brain associates action with pain.


You are not trading the chart. You are trading your conditioning.


And conditioning doesn’t shift with more information. It shifts with awareness and intentional practice.


👉 Speaking of conditioning — one of the most common traps I see is traders doing well for a few weeks, then giving it all back in one emotional session. Why? Because they feel invincible, start forcing setups, and forget the market’s current structure. I covered this in-depth in a recent session that everyone found eye-opening. If you missed it, watch it here:




5. How the Past Hijacks the Present


Trading is unique because the environment looks the same every day—but our inner state is always changing.


When you’re carrying baggage:


  • You’re quicker to judge a setup based on emotion.

  • You’re more reactive to every tick against you.

  • You exit early, not because the structure says so, but because your nerves do.


You are no longer responding to the market. You are responding to memory.


6. The Reset Ritual: Drop the Baggage, Trade the Moment


Let’s talk solutions. Here’s a 4-step reset to break the loop.


Step 1: Name It


Before your session, ask:


  • Am I thinking clearly, or reacting to something old?

  • What fear is present today?

  • Is this voice mine—or is it the past speaking?


Awareness breaks the trance.


Step 2: Breathe, Anchor, Reset


Try this:

  • 3 slow breaths.

  • Say out loud: “This is not that trade. This is now.”

  • Sit tall. Adjust your posture. Anchor in the present.


Step 3: One-Trade Focus


Forget the day. Forget the week. Focus on executing this one trade according to this plan.

That’s it. Bring all your attention to this candle, this trigger, this setup.


Step 4: Post-Trade Debrief


Ask:

  • Did I trade the plan?

  • Did I hesitate because of the past?

  • What did I learn—without judgment?


7. You Are Not Your Last Trade


You are not the missed breakout. You are not the oversized loss. You are not the $1,000 mistake.


You are the trader who shows up despite it.


The market does not care about your past. But if you keep carrying it, you will never meet the present.


Let go of the ghosts. Trade what’s in front of you. That's where freedom is.


👉 And if you're still struggling, you don't have to do this alone. Join our Smart Trader Mentorship Program for just $113/month. You’ll get access to our live chatroom, daily pre-market planning, trade alerts, deep-dive strategy sessions, and full webinar access — all designed to help you build structure, consistency, and confidence. Learn more here:





8. Coaching Questions for You


Use these to self-reflect or journal:


  1. What trade from the past is still shaping my present?

  2. What emotion shows up when I try to take action?

  3. What would I trade like if I had never lost before?

  4. What reset ritual can I use to stay present?



Remember: Great traders aren’t perfect. They’re present.


And presence starts when you stop dragging yesterday into today.


Let the past go. Let the plan guide you. And meet the moment where it actually lives: right now.

 
 
 

Comments

bottom of page