6
Aug, 2020
behind-great-trader-is-great-strategy

Behind Every Great Trader is a Great Trading Strategy

Trading can be fun and profitable. When done well, it may even change your life. But, before you become totally obsessed with rewriting your own Cinderella story, keep in mind, once the novelty has worn off you will encounter highs and lows. When you’re frustrated or bored, you may be tempted to take short cuts and skip important steps. How you navigate these moments will make the difference in your trading trajectory.

Think of trading as a business. The market doesn’t owe you anything; and you are responsible for your own success. You can grow your account by incredible margins by honoring your trading technique and continuously improving your skill set. Here’s where a solid strategy can focus your trading, accelerate the learning curve, and keep you making money reliably.

What is a trading strategy?

A trading strategy is your personal guide for how you’re making decisions on when to buy and sell in the market. It provides clarity on why you’re trading, your goals and rules of engagement.

Do you prefer to trade in the morning, mid-day or late afternoon? The time of day you trade will impact the types of trades you take and indicators you’ll use.

Will you swing trade or day trade? Holding stocks overnight greatly increases your overall risk. You need a plan for getting in and getting out.

Are you a pre-market or after-hours trader? Will you go long, short or both? Brokers have various rules and regulations that dictate when, how and how often you trade.

Will you trade cryptocurrencies, forex, futures or penny stocks? Each stock exchange varies in lliquidity, volatility, cost and risk.

The most important component of a trading strategy is your risk management plan. By clearly defining how you will manage your trades, you can easily spot points of weakness in your routine and make adjustments along the way to improve your risk-reward ratio.

Why a trading strategy?

Trades in high-volatility stocks require quick thinking on-the-go. You can lose money within minutes by getting stuck in a loop of analysis paralysis. A trading strategy can supercharge your execution by doing the hard work up-front. Maximize your risk and minimize losses by creating a consistent approach that reduces the amount of time it takes to get in and out of trades.

At some point along your journey, you may hit a plateau in your growth. By benchmarking your goals and keeping track of your progress, you’ll have a historical record of what is working well and where you can improve.

Having a clear formula for your trading also boosts your confidence so you can rely on your own gut instincts without following the crowd or falling victim to bad trading habits.

What goes into a trading strategy?

Consider these components when building your trading strategy:

Set your intentions: Take a moment to reflect on why you’re trading. Think about what attracts you to the stock market and what personal qualities make you a good candidate for success as a trader. Evaluate your lifestyle and how trading blends into your daily routine. Imagine the lifestyle you aspire to achieve and how trading can help you get there.

Objectives: Think about what you want to get out of trading, whether it’s personal development, financial stability, professional growth or sheer enjoyment.

Goals: Benchmark your progress by defining measurable milestones — what you will do and by when. Set short-term (a few months to a year), mid-term (2-5 years) and long-term (5+ years) goals. Your goals should be specific, time-bound, actionable and rewarding.

Begin with your current account size. How much will you grow your account and by what date? It may be helpful to set quarterly targets that coincide with market earnings seasons, in addition to a year-end goal.

Don’t forget to set goals for your learning. Define exactly what you want to learn and how you will get there. How many charts will you study each day? How many books will you read and by when?

Approach: Now that you have clearly defined goals, outline the actions you’ll take to achieve them. For each goal, explain how you will get there. For example, if your goal is to read 12 books by the end-of-year, start by identifying the best trading books to read. Then, purchase one book. You may decide to purchase 12 books right away! There is no right or wrong answer. The point is to be intentional about your goals and specific about how you will achieve them.

Learning: Make a plan for how you will continue to invest in your learning, whether it’s joining a bootcamp, finding a mentor or listening to your favorite podcasts.

Aspects directly related to your PnL

Trading style: Here, you’ll define your unique trading style. There are f our main styles to choose from:

  1. Scalping: quick trading happens within seconds and requires fast decision making.
  2. Day trading: momentum trading takes advantage of uptrends and down trends to make quick profits. You may hold a stock for a few minutes to a few hours.
  3. Swing trading: mid-term trading with positions over days or months. This type of trading requires patience since you’ll be holding over night.
  4. Position trading: long-term investments that move over the course of several years. Think: “Warren Buffet method.” This option foregoes short-term profit for long-term wealth.

You may choose one or more of these trading styles depending on your personality, risk tolerance and financial goals.

Risk management: The most important part of your strategy. Start by determining how much of your account you will risk per trade. It may be helpful to pick a range of stock prices you will target and a set number of shares you’ll execute with each trade. Identify how many trades you’ll take per day, per week, per month and per year. Then, detail how you will manage getting in and out of trades; your target risk-to-reward ratio; how much you’re willing to lose; and how you will use stop losses to stay accountable.

Trading rules: Create a set of rules or a checklist to guide your trades. Consistency in your trading routine can help you spot weaknesses early on; course correct; and create new, winning habits. Your rules may include: 1) use stop losses on every trade; 2) always buy (x) amount of shares; 3) never purchase shares below (x) price point; and 4) never trade on an empty stomach.

Your rules will be unique to your goals and trading style.

Trading routine: Now that your rules are defined, it’s time to create a routine around how you’ll execute your trades. Organize the day to accommodate your trading cycle. When will you do research and scan for stocks? At what times will you begin and end your trading? How often will you journal and review your trades?

Be disciplined!

Trading community: List the names of people you know who can serve as mentors and study partners. Identify close friends and allies who are supportive and can provide encouragement when you encounter challenges. How will you ask for help? Who will you reach out to for help? Sometimes, you just need one or two people you can safely vent to about your performance.

Evaluation: Detail how you’ll evaluate your trades. Set dates for how often you’ll revisit your goals; and make a plan for how you’ll adjust when you get off track.

Where to go from here?

Choose your medium. Journaling platforms like Tradervue allow you to track, analyze and share your progress with others. Google Docs or Sheets is a free and simple way to outline your trading plan.

The bottom-line

Your trading strategy offers clear guidelines for how you engage with the market. It will be unique to you and evolve over time as you learn and grow. Building a strategy takes time, but it’s an important first step toward winning results.

Get out there and crush it!

For real-time insight follow me on Twitter! @Mv3Trader

Comment below with your opinions and questions.

Daily Premarket Insight

 
Quotes by TradingView

Friday Premarket Insight

Premarket insight for today’s Futures market with technical analysis of Nasdaq, Crude Oil, Gold, and Euro Fx futures. Daily affirmations and preparations are always a bonus! ?

Key Points for Today’s Premarket Insight:

  • Economic Outlook
    • Retail Sales
  • Recession fear in sight
  • Contract month rollover index futures
  • Day off for me: Other business
  • Premarket strength: Moderate

Traders are feeling fear of recession over economic global concerns. Markets are seeing selloff across the board in all areas of today’sFutures market. Also, contract volume is shifting to next contract month (H) for index futures. Things are pretty slow right now, but there’s still a chance for some interesting activity throughout the day.

Stay calm, plan the trade, and trade the plan.

Nasdaq Futures, S&P 500 Futures and Dow Futures Quotes by TradingView


For real-time insights follow me on Twitter! @Mv3Trader

Comment below with your opinions and questions.

Rob

Mv3 Trader

“Trade Consciously”

 
 

10
Apr, 2026
Photorealistic split-panel meme: calm restaurant owner sorting bills on the left, panicked day trader staring at a -$11 P&L on the right, with caption "Every business has expenses. Why do traders act brand new?"

Drawdown Is Not Defeat: How to Think Like a Business Owner When the Market Isn’t Paying

Trading is risky! Past performance does not guarantee future results. Click here to read our full Disclaimer

There’s a particular feeling that comes with sitting in a drawdown period. Looking back through the journal and realizing the last profitable session was weeks ago. Scrolling through the log and seeing expense, no trigger, no trigger, expense, expense. It’s the kind of stretch that makes it easy to start labeling things. “It’s been rough.” “It’s been bad.” “It’s been terrible.”

But here’s what I’ve learned after years of trading and marketing: the words matter. The language a trader attaches to their experience directly shapes how they respond to it. And that response is what determines whether the business stays open or shuts down.

The Language We Use Changes the Game​

I took some time today to go through my recent sessions. And I made a very deliberate choice in how I described what I was looking at. I didn’t say it’s been rough. I didn’t say it’s been bad. I didn’t say it’s been terrible or atrocious. Because it hasn’t been any of those things. It’s been a season of business. That’s it.

When a trader starts attaching emotionally charged language to a drawdown period, it does something to the psyche. It triggers a response. It creates urgency where urgency doesn’t belong. It makes the next session feel heavier than it needs to be. And that heaviness leads to decisions that are driven by emotion rather than by the plan.

This is part of what I explored in “Pull the Trigger” around the idea of neutrality. Looking at what happened without the lens of “good or bad” or “right or wrong.” If someone had to explain what happened in a trading session without using any of those words, the explanation would be much closer to the truth of the situation. And the truth is usually a lot more manageable than the story being told internally.

So I’ve made it a practice. Drawdown is not “bad.” It’s a season. Expense days are not “failures.” They’re operational costs. The language stays neutral because neutral language leads to neutral decisions. And neutral decisions are the ones that keep the business running.

Expenses Are Guaranteed. Profit Is the Objective.

Every single business that has ever existed has expenses. That’s not a maybe. That’s not a sometimes. That’s a guarantee. If someone opens a restaurant, there are food costs, labor costs, rent, utilities. Those expenses exist whether or not a single customer walks through the door that day. The business still has to pay.

Trading is the same. The one thing that is 100% guaranteed in this business is that there will be money going out. Expenses are built into the game. They’re the cost of operating. The objective is not to eliminate expenses because that’s impossible. The objective is to generate enough profit over time that it outweighs those expenses and keeps the doors open.

So when I look at a session that ends in a small net expense, I’m not panicking. I’m not spiraling. It would take a very long time to bleed an account out at that rate. And more importantly, the strategy is not designed to win every single session. It’s designed to produce returns over an extended period that far exceed the cost of the sessions that don’t go in my favor.

This is the mentality shift that separates traders who last from those who don’t. The ones who treat every expense day like a crisis are the ones who start making reactive decisions. They change their strategy mid-drawdown. They abandon their system. They chase. And then they really do blow up. Not because the strategy was broken, but because the emotional response to a normal part of business is what broke everything.

Knowing When to Change vs. When to Keep Going

One of the hardest things in trading, and honestly in any business, is knowing the difference between “this isn’t working and needs to change” and “this is just a season I need to ride through.”

I’ve been in drawdown for a stretch now. And the temptation is absolutely there to start tweaking things. To adjust the system. To add something, remove something, try a different approach. But here’s what I’ve come to understand: the amount of data I’ve collected since the last adjustment is simply not enough to make that call.

It’s not the time frame that matters. It’s the data. A trader can go through two months of drawdown and still not have enough data to justify a change if the conditions during those two months were limited to a specific type of market environment. What’s needed is data from the strategy’s highest potential sessions, data from the worst potential sessions, and data from everything in between. All the different conditions. All the different types of days.

The last time I made a significant change to my system, it took months of collecting data before I pulled that trigger. And that was intentional. Because making a change based on incomplete information is just as dangerous as not making a change when the data clearly says one is needed.

So for right now, the move is to keep collecting. Keep trading the plan. Keep journaling every session. And let the data tell the story instead of letting the emotions write it.

Structuring Risk: Max Profit Potential vs. Max Expense Potential

One thing that’s worth thinking about when building a trading system is how the risk structure is designed from the ground up. And I’m not talking about specific numbers or strategy details here. I’m talking about the framework.

The idea is simple: the maximum profit potential should exceed the maximum expense potential by design. Not by hope. Not by luck. By design. A trader can structure this in different ways. It can be done by limiting the number of consecutive expense positions allowed per session. It can be done by structuring the point values so that winning positions capture more than losing positions give back. Or it can be a combination of both.

The point is that symmetry is not required. A system does not need to have five potential winners balanced against five potential losers. In fact, that kind of symmetry might not serve the strategy at all. The power is in the asymmetry. Building the system so that even in a worst-case session, the damage is contained. And in a best-case session, the upside has room to run.

This is where the work happens before the market even opens. The structure of the risk plan is what gives a trader the ability to sit through drawdown without panicking. Because the plan already accounts for it. The worst-case scenario has already been defined. And when the worst case is known, it’s a lot easier to stay calm when the session isn’t going the way it was hoped.

Redefining the Reward: Why Profit Is Not the Prize

This is one I feel strongly about. The traditional way traders frame things is “risk to reward” and that reward is always tied to the P&L. How much money was made. How many points were captured. The dollar amount at the end of the session.

I don’t like that framing. And here’s why.

When the internal reward system is tied to monetary outcomes, the trader is essentially telling their brain that the only “good” outcome is making money. Which means every session that doesn’t make money triggers a negative emotional response. That negative response compounds over time. It creates anxiety, hesitation, and eventually fear. Fear of pulling the trigger. Fear of taking the next trade. Fear of the plan itself.

This is exactly what I wrote about in “Pull the Trigger.” The fear that stops traders from executing is often rooted in how their internal reward system has been wired. If profit is the only thing that gets celebrated, then every expense feels like punishment. And nobody wants to willingly walk into punishment.

So I flipped it. My reward is not profit. My reward is execution. Did I follow the plan? Did I take the triggers I was supposed to take? Did I exit where I was supposed to exit, or did I bail early because of a feeling? Did I chase, or did I respect the rules when I didn’t get filled?

When accuracy of execution becomes the measuring stick, the emotional relationship with the outcomes changes completely. A session that ends in a small expense but was executed with 100% accuracy to the plan? That’s a win. A session that ended profitable but involved chasing, breaking rules, and getting lucky? That’s not a win. That’s a liability waiting to show itself again.

The internal reward system is powerful. And every trader has the ability to take control of it instead of leaving it vulnerable to whatever the market does on any given day.

The Market Maker Mindset and Understanding the Audience

Something I think about a lot, and something I plan to break down more in upcoming posts, is the parallel between marketing and market making.

Wholesale, which is what I call market makers, has a job. That job is to facilitate orders and keep the market functioning. And to do that job effectively, they need to understand their audience. They need to understand how retail participants think. What they react to. What triggers them to send orders to the market.

This is literally marketing. If someone is running a business and trying to sell a product, the first thing any good marketer will say is: know the audience. Understand what they want, what they fear, what motivates them to act. And then position the product in a way that gets the desired response.

The same thing applies to how price moves. The structure that gets printed on the charts is not random. It’s designed to generate participation. And if a trader can start thinking about what other participants are likely thinking at any given point in the session, that perspective becomes incredibly useful. Not to predict where price will go, because nobody can do that. But to understand the behavior that’s driving the auction.

I see things in a very colorful way when it comes to how all of this works. The intricacies of it. And honestly, I’m much better at writing it out than explaining it verbally in real time. There’s a lot of nuance. But the core idea is this: wholesale isn’t the enemy. Wholesale is running a business. And understanding how that business operates gives a trader a significant edge in how they interpret what’s happening on the charts.

Patience, Breath, and the Moments Between Triggers

There are moments in every session where nothing is happening. Price is grinding inside a range. Volume is low. The supply floor is noisy but nothing significant sticks out. And the urge to do something starts building.

I know this feeling well. It’s that physiological response where the anxiety starts creeping in. The hands want to press the button. The mind starts rationalizing why maybe this one time it’s okay to act before the plan says to act. And that feeling multiplies significantly if you’re holding a position.

In those moments, the best thing I’ve found is to just focus on the breath. Not overthinking. Not analyzing. Not trying to predict what’s coming next. Just breathing. Slow, controlled breaths. Letting the body know that everything is okay and that flight or fight mode is not needed right now.

This connects directly to what I laid out in “Pull the Trigger” around managing the physiological responses to trading. The fear and anxiety that builds during live trading is not just mental. It shows up in the body. Increased heart rate, muscle tension, shallow breathing. And the fastest way to reset that is through the breath.

If the next step in the plan is clear, then all that’s needed is patience to wait for it. And if the next step isn’t clear, that’s not a signal to act anyway. That’s a signal that the plan needs more development. Either way, forcing action is almost never the answer. Preparation beats reaction every single time.

The Business Stays Open

At the end of the day, drawdown doesn’t mean the business is broken. It means the business is operating. Every business goes through seasons where the expenses outpace the revenue. That doesn’t mean the product is bad or the strategy is flawed. It means the conditions haven’t aligned yet. And the data is still being collected.

The traders who make it in this environment are not the ones who never experience drawdown. They’re the ones who can sit through it without abandoning their system. The ones who keep the language neutral. The ones who keep collecting data. The ones who make execution the reward instead of the dollar amount.

One thing I wrote in my session notes that keeps coming back to me: “Decision makes the trade long before the entry does.” The decision to follow the plan, to respect the risk, to keep the business running through the lean seasons. That decision is what makes all the difference.

So the doors stay open. The data keeps getting collected. The plan keeps getting followed. And the profit seasons? They’re ahead. They always come back around for the traders who are still here when they do.

Trade it easy ✌🏾

15
Oct, 2024
day-trading-while-traveling-with-a-macbook-pro-and-parallels

Trading on the Go: My Experience Using Sierra Chart with Parallels Software on a MacBook Pro

Trading is risky! Past performance does not guarantee future results. Click here to read our full Disclaimer

In the rapidly evolving world of trading, having a flexible setup is crucial, especially when you find yourself traveling frequently. As someone who actively trades, I’ve developed a system that allows me to efficiently trade while on the move. Here’s a look at how I maintain my trading activities using Sierra Chart with Parallels software on my MacBook Pro.

My Usual Trading Setup

At home, my trading gear includes an affordable HP Pavillion gaming laptop and two external monitors where I meticulously arrange my charts and programs for a custom trade copying system. This setup works perfectly; however, as life sometimes requires travel, carrying my entire workstation becomes impractical. That’s where Parallels Desktop comes into play.

Trading Setup for Traveling

When traveling, portability is key. Instead of lugging around my entire setup, I rely on my MacBook Pro. Although I generally use two monitors at home, I can comfortably manage trading with just one monitor when I’m away. The core of this setup relies on running Sierra Chart via Parallels software on my MacBook.

Why Parallels?

Parallels allows me to run Windows applications on my MacBook seamlessly. There are other virtualization options available, but Parallels is my preferred choice due to its reliability and performance, enabling me to trade efficiently without noticeable lag or system issues while away from my primary trading station.

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Setting Up Parallels

In the video below, I walk through loading up Parallels, showcasing its startup time and functionality. It’s crucial to ensure all my trading settings, charts, and configurations from my desktop are mirrored onto my MacBook Pro for consistency. Using cloud storage services like Google Drive or iCloud to transfer these settings makes the process seamless.

Performance Insights

Running Sierra Chart on the MacBook Pro with the M1 chip through Parallels is extraordinarily efficient. I’ve experienced no significant issues except for a minor lag during the initial startup phase, which quickly resolves as the software stabilizes. To maximize performance, I ensure all unnecessary applications are closed, allowing resources to be dedicated to trading operations. As shown in the video, even with programs like OBS and Discord running in the background, the setup operates smoothly.

Key Considerations and Tips

While Sierra Chart hasn’t released a macOS version yet, using Parallels to run it on a MacBook Pro provides a viable alternative. When setting up, ensure that Sierra Chart’s settings and application version match your primary setup to avoid any technical hiccups. The most efficient practice I’ve found for daily trading on Parallels is to either pause or suspend Parallels at the end of each trading session. This makes it easy to pick up where I left off without the need for lengthy reload processes.

Conclusion

Traveling doesn’t mean halting trading operations, especially with reliable tools like Parallels software and a robust device like a 2020 MacBook Pro. For a more in-depth look and visual walkthrough of my setup, check out the video at the top of this post. You’ll find demonstrations of my setup in action and additional tips that may enhance your mobile trading experience.

If you have questions or need further details, feel free to leave a comment. Until next time, trade easily and efficiently.

3
Oct, 2024

“Trading Psychology is BS!”: The Undeniable Importance of Trading Psychology

Trading is risky! Past performance does not guarantee future results. Click here to read our full Disclaimer

If you’ve been in the trading world for any length of time, you’ve likely come across the bold claim: “Trading psychology is BS!” and a complete waste of time. Proponents of this view often argue that the real reason over 90% of people fail at day trading isn’t psychological at all – it’s simply a matter of not having a proper strategy. But is this really the case? Let’s dive deep into the truth of this controversial argument.

Is trading psychology irrelevant nonsense or is it just as crucial as any other aspect of trading?

The Myth of the One-Size-Fits-All Approach

First and foremost, it’s essential to understand that this blog post isn’t intended to be all-inclusive. The topic of trading psychology has many layers and could easily fill a series of books (I’m actually curious to know if that’s something you would be interested in. Let me know by commenting below this post!)

The problem with dismissing trading psychology is that it relies on too much “OR” logic. It assumes that if one factor is important, others can’t be. This black-and-white thinking fails to account for the complex reality of trading and human behavior.

We're Not All Cut from the Same Cloth

One of the most significant oversights in the “psychology doesn’t matter” argument is the assumption that all traders take this race from the same starting line. This couldn’t be further from the truth. People discredit the psychology of trading simply because they don’t feel it’s what they needed to overcome. This implies that everyone is the same – that all people have the same upbringing, life experiences, and influences. But let’s consider this for a moment:

  • Each of us has a unique psychological edge. (What I refer to as your True Edge.)
  • We all have something that makes us different from the masses.
  • This uniqueness is what truly makes us special in the trading world.

It might be hard to believe, considering the number of people in the world, but we can confirm that no two people are exactly alike. There’s something unique about each person on this planet, and somewhere in there lies our true edge.

The Power of Individual Experiences

While we do have shared experiences, we have differences that makes our individual experience unique. Let’s take an example of identical twins who spend as much time together as possible:

  • At some point, they will have time away from each other.
  • During this time, they will experience something the other twin did not.
  • They will have interactions with people the other twin doesn’t know.
  • They will generally have different perspectives, even on shared moments.

Making claims that imply everyone is the same is pure ignorance. Even if you were able to find two people who are completely the same in every way (virtually impossible), that would be 2 out of at least 7 billion people as of 2022 statistics.

For argument’s sake, let’s cut that number in half to 3.5 billion. Two out of 3 billion is too insignificant to consider that no one should be experiencing a certain problem based on your personal truth alone.

The Ego Trap

So why do people make such sweeping claims about trading psychology? Often, it comes off as a form of ego-boosting bragging. It’s as if they’re saying, “Look at me! I don’t have the problem that everyone else claims to have! I’m so special! 😎” If that’s what you’re into, have at it – just do so knowing you’re absolutely wrong.

Factors That Shape Our Trading Psychology

Now that we’ve addressed the misconceptions, let’s look at some of the many factors that can psychologically affect how one trades:

  • Your level of financial literacy
  • How you were taught about money: managing, budgeting, what it takes to earn, ”money is the root of all evil”,  “money is necessary for your survival”, etc.
  • Examples you’ve seen of how others treated their finances
  • How easy or difficult it has been for you to earn money on your own
  • Actions you needed to take to have money to trade with
  • The amount of money you have to trade with (one of the most common factors)
  • Personal fears that were created outside of trading:
    • Fear of being wrong or right
    • Fear of social rejection or misunderstanding from friends and family who don’t understand trading
    • Fear of failure and its consequences
  • How you typically deal with perceived dangers
  • Your tendency to self-sabotage in other areas of life
    • Lack of discipline
    • Lack of consistency to do simple or complex things
  • Your general personal confidence

And this is just a short list of the many factors that shape your perspective and attitude towards money. You’re bringing this into a highly competitive field where the overall goal of the environment is to get as much money out of you as possible. Not to mention you were more than likely introduced to this competition concept through short-sighted misinformation that doesn’t make trading any easier. But that’s another topic for another day.

Anonymous Reddit Perspective: ‘ The Problem Is Not Your Psychology’

Let’s delve into a real-world example that illustrates the importance of trading psychology. I recently came across a comment on Reddit that perfectly encapsulates the misconception we’re discussing. The user [deleted account] made a sweeping judgment about all traders based solely on their personal experiences. While it’s natural to view the world through the lens of our own experiences, it’s crucial to recognize that our own perspective is limited.

This type of generalization often triggers me, and for good reason. It fails to account for the infinite diversity of human experiences and psychological backgrounds that traders bring to the market. There’s a significant amount of emotional and psychological baggage around money and finance that many people need to address before they can fully capitalize on the financial market’s opportunities.

Let me share a personal anecdote to illustrate this point. For over a year, I meticulously tracked what my first trading strategy should have achieved. The results were impressive. The data showed that I should have realized substantial gains with only minor periods of drawdown. However, despite having this undeniable evidence of my strategy’s statistical edge, I still struggled to execute it effectively.

It wasn’t until I addressed my habitual issues and mental blocks that I was able to consistently implement my strategy as designed. Now, I can take planned trades regardless of my confidence in the strategy’s statistical edge. This experience taught me that while statistical edge and strategy application are interrelated, they are distinct concepts that both play crucial roles in trading success.

Deleted user states: “Maybe you don’t trust your statistics enough?” While this seems like a reasonable suggestion on the surface, it fails to address the underlying issue. The real question we should be asking is, “Why would someone have trustworthy statistics and not trust them?” Clearly, there’s something deeper at play here, beyond simply analyzing charts or fundamental data.

The answer to this “why” is often the root cause of why many people fail in their attempts to trade successfully long-term. It’s not just about having a good strategy; it’s about having the psychological fortitude to execute that strategy consistently, even in the face of uncertainty and potential loss.

Regardless the depth of our statistics, market conditions change over time. Social media is full of confident predictions on where price is headed, but in reality, the next tick is a constant unknown.

It Probably IS You and That Is Great!

It’s important to note that having psychological hurdles doesn’t make someone a bad trader or a flawed person. Humans are inherently imperfect, and the market has a unique way of highlighting our personal challenges. Recognizing and addressing these issues should be seen as an opportunity for growth, both in trading and in life.

Let’s just say the commenter has not faced any significant mental hurdles in their trading journey, as implied by their statements. Perhaps they were already psychologically prepared for the challenges of the market when they began their trading journey. However, it’s crucial to remember that this won’t be the case for everyone who attempts to trade. Each person brings their own unique set of experiences, fears, and mental blocks to the table, and addressing these is often just as important as developing a solid trading strategy.

There is very little you can do about the entities on the other side of your screen, contributing to the change of price. However, what you do have complete control over yourself. And this is great news for your trading goals.

What has kept me showing up, day after day, throughout the years is undeniable evidence that underneath a solid 99% of my PnL meltdowns were mistakes of my own. The statistics driven by the market was never the core issue.

As a matter of fact, had I kept my discipline and consistency at just 80% the negative impact to my account balance caused by external factors would’ve been much less significant. The psychological gains I have had played a greater role to my trading success than any statistical edge.

How to Leap Over Your Psychological Trading Hurdles

Many of our mental hurdles can be improved by adopting simple personal improvement habits, such as journaling, meditating and maintaining a physical fitness routine. These are great tools to start with because they require no additional cost beyond your time.

I often journal on my phone and laptop. I take at least 5 minutes before every trading session to meditate. I keep an active lifestyle with calisthenics, which can be done anywhere, anytime, without a gym membership, expensive equipment that takes up space, or perfect weather conditions. Even something as simple as going for a walk can make a significant impact on your mental and physical fitness.

But sometimes we need to enlist the expertise of others to help us uncover what we struggle to see on our own. This is where I overcame some of my deepest issues with the help of Bulletproof Entrepreneur.

Bulletproof Entrepreneur offers valuable tools that help you identify the root causes of your psychological struggles and address them head-on, clearing their charge indefinitely.

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Bulletproof Entrepreneur’s tools and coaching helped me finally overcome:

  • Fear of taking trades within my plan
  • Fear of taking another loss in drawdown
  • Physiological reactions to unrealized drawdown
  • Cheating myself by cutting trades too quickly due to uncertainty
  • Attempts to trade outside of my true edge
  • Placing random trades outside of my plan

Thanks to Bulletproof Entrepreneur I’ve learned so much more about myself, the markets and I have developed a deep understanding of the statistics. Now, while most traders are having anxiety attacks during high volatility periods or missing opportunities during “boring” periods of low volatility, I’m calmly executing my plan with nearly 100% accuracy.

Conclusion: Embracing the Psychological Aspect of Trading

Trading is not solely about strategies and market analysis. It’s a complex interplay of knowledge, skill, and mental edge. Dismissing the psychological aspect of trading is not only short-sighted but potentially dangerous to your trading success.

Understanding and managing these psychological factors is crucial for successful trading. Developing a well-defined trading plan, setting clear entry and exit points, and maintaining emotional discipline can help mitigate these challenges. But more importantly, recognizing that each trader’s psychological makeup is unique can lead to more personalized and effective trading approaches.

So the next time someone tells you that trading psychology is BS, remember that they’re likely speaking from their limited perspective. Your journey in trading is uniquely yours, shaped by your experiences, beliefs, and psychological tendencies. Embrace this fact, work on understanding your own psychological strengths and weaknesses, and use this knowledge to become a better trader.

After all, in the complex world of trading, your mind and personality traits are your most valuable assets. This is where you will find your true edge.