Thursday Trader's Tip: Raising Your Awareness to New Heights with This Tool
Watch this edition’s video at the end of the post.
All traders I work with, no exception, face this challenge:
They know what mistakes they need to correct.
They can sense when they’re about to repeat the mistake.
They have tried multiple methods to fix it.
Yet, the mistakes keep happening.
Why?
Awareness alone isn’t enough—the moment emotions escalate, awareness takes a backseat.
You can only make the most use of your awareness at a certain emotional intensity. That’s where the Emotional Temperature Scale comes in.
Think of emotions like temperature. A calm, rational state is “cool,” but once emotions rise, you start “heating up.” Eventually, you hit a “boiling point” where emotions override your ability to think logically.
We all have this threshold—some shorter than others. The aim is to widen it to develop better tolerance to discomfort.
Your job as a trader is to recognize where your emotional temperature is and stop it from boiling over.
Here’s how to build and use it:
Identify your trigger(s) - describe the market events that are most stressful to you.
Examples: Consecutive losses, missing a setup, trading boredom, or chasing a move.
Create your scale - Start by identifying five levels, but you can add as many as needed to describe the evolution of your emotional and body state when triggered.
Example:
Level 1: Calm
Level 2: Slight Unease
Level 3: Frustration
Level 4: Anger
Level 5: Full Loss of Control
Describe each level - Be specific about how each level feels emotionally, mentally, and physically:
Example: Level 3 (Frustration): I feel my chest tighten, I start to think I need to fix the situation, and I start justifying risky trades.
Spot your line - Identify where you’re no longer making rational decisions. This is your “stop” point. You want to step away from the desk when you hit this level.
Reflect daily - After every trading day, assess where your emotional temperature went. Ask:
At what level did I start to lose control?
What triggered it?
What actions can I take earlier next time?
The Emotional Temperature Scale works as a real-time awareness tool.
Self-awareness is not only about basic recognition of your “monkey mind”; it’s about the quality of that awareness.
The more powerful your awareness is, the easier it becomes to control impulses.
I especially made a template for creating your own Emotional Temperature Scale. Go for it:
Peaceful trading,
Sara
P.S. Ready to take the actions that improve your trading performance? Try the paid subscription:
Related reads:
right now my emotions are up in the "triggered zone". Pissed off at the wife. unfortunately, so is the market. Thus sitting still could be a dreadful mistake. This is where trading gets really, really hard because I have a history of shooting myself in the foot when I feel this way. Only thing going for me is a desire for self-preservation......
https://youtu.be/4a1omxlM6f4?si=ePrBJyQl_v1JtwSH
Check out this tilt cycle concept that works similarly to your emotional thermometer!