Don’t trade when you can’t afford to lose. In fact there are few more certain ways of guaranteeing that you will lose than by trading money you can’t afford to lose. If your trading capital is too important, you will be doomed to a number of fatal errors.

Over concern about losing may even lead to staying with losing trades as fear triggers indecisiveness, much like a deer frozen in the glare of a car’s headlights.

Our natural instincts will mislead us in trading. Therefore, the first step in succeeding as a trader is reprogramming behaviour to do what is correct rather than what feels comfortable.

Combine your enthusiasm, energy, focus, devotion, and discipline to becoming the best trader you can be, but once you have done that, there is no point in agonizing over the details.

My current goals are to make a 30 percent return each year, with no peak-to-valley draw downs greater than 10 percent.