Chapter 17. It’s a Head Game

Over the years, I have learned that once you develop and hone your personal trading style, ultimate success has more to do with psychology than any set rule or guideline. Successful trading is the evolution from a battle between man and stocks to a battle between man and himself. Learning to trust certain instincts, avoid others, and stick to a set trading style, all while keeping emotions in check, are just a few of the issues you will face throughout your entire trading career (regardless of how well you understand chart patterns, fundamentals, or macroeconomics).

Therefore, in the subsequent chapters, I discuss ways you can continue to improve your trading excellence. These chapters are concepts I have developed over time and that have helped me tremendously, yet they are not quantifiable within a set trading strategy. My hope is that you find this material of use as you mature as a trader and undoubtedly face new obstacles. Review the chapters once, and then use them as a reference point when specific issues arise (as I know they will).

I firmly believe that should you want to move from good to great, you must be willing to sit and reflect on these outside variables and seek to truly understand how they influence your trading decisions and results. It is a simple matter of getting away from the trading desk to do some personal reflection with the ultimate goal of improving your performance.

It was through this reflection that my style came to fruition. Each step generally started by addressing an issue I was facing, with the result being a new set of rules or guidelines that I followed. Ultimately, I learned that to succeed I had to remove more of me from the equation when an opportunity was identified.

Although I am still honing my strategy on a daily basis, it is the foundation from which I have experienced success and started to achieve my ultimate goal of a consistently rising equity curve with manageable drawdowns.

You must begin by asking yourself some tough questions and seeking real and honest answers. Learning more about yourself, your personality, and the time that you can devote to stock speculation is the first step. After clearly articulating this, you can follow the strategy outlined and thus begin to build your own true pattern of success.

As you embark on this journey, keep in mind that markets should not be viewed as an endless battleground but as an ongoing and continuous world of opportunity from which you can achieve all of your financial goals. You will sometimes experience success, sometimes failure. Instead of becoming discouraged, return to the foundation on which you built your strategy. Move slowly in a methodical way, following each of the steps outlined in this book and honestly assess what part needs special attention. Become a life-long student of your very own trading strategy, seeking mastery and a humble advancement toward profits.

May the tape richly bless you and may your profits exceed your expectations.