Here are three good suggestions from The Essential John Woodenthat are good for trading.
1. Start and end every practice at exactly the same time.
2. Expect failure. Assume every shot will be missed. Be ready for what comes, be it a tip in, rebound, fast break or something else.
3. Get the fundamentals right. Double tie all shoelaces. Make the uniforms fit perfectly and get in position for every rebound the perfection of little things usually determines if a job is well done.
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rss10 Secrets To Success
These 10 secrets could be applied to your success as a trader, but more importantly they could be applied to ensure success in your personal life. I thought I would share these 10 tips with you as they made me stop and think about my own life.
1) How You Think Is Everything – Always be positive. Think success, not failure. Beware of a negative environment.
2) Decide Upon Your True Dreams & Goals – Write down your specific goals and develop a plan to reach them.
3) Take Action – Goals are nothing without action. Don’t be afraid to get started. Just do it.
4) Never Stop Learning – Go back to school or read books. Get training and acquire skills.
5) Be Persistent & Work Hard – Success is a marathon, not a sprint. Never give up. (more…)
WHY traders really lose money
Let us now talk a bit about the reasons WHY traders really lose money. Since I was able to talk to many traders from different corners of India, I can honestly say that majority of them show the same reasons to the trading failure.
THE MOST FREQUENT REASONS ARE:
1. No quality trading education and know-how;
2. Poor, or nonexisting, trading plan;
3. Lack of trading discipline;
4. Underestimating the importance of money management;
5. Trading on inner “impulses” or “inspirations”;
6. Trading with the money that one cannot afford to lose;
7. Knowing a little, or nothing, about the psychology of trading.
Steve Jobs on failure-Video
Success is the mother of confidence
How do you build confidence? There are many ways but only one process: multiple small successes. I am very much an advocate for boring trading. What I mean by that is I trade the same edge over and over again without variation. By trading the same edge over and over again I know when to get in and when to get out. I know what to look for when a trade is working and I can safely add to my position. On the other hand, I know what to look for when the trade is not working and I can exit with a small loss. By following the rules EVERY TIME you can succeed, not in making money every time (impossible!), but by following the same plan every time. These small successes give you the confidence to trust yourself each and every time your edge presents itself. This is true in any new venture, whether it be golf, bowling, drawing, flying, etc. Each small success gives birth to greater confidence which in turn brings further successes. You can then replace a vicious circle of failure with a confident circle of success. It is so EASY to want the lottery ticket or the home run every time at bat but HARD to accept when the numbers do not add up or when all the preparation leads to nothing more than the hard earned single.
Risk, fear and worry
They’re not the same.
Risk is all around us. When we encounter potential points of failure, we’re face to face with risk. And nothing courts risk more than art, the desire to do something for the first time–to make a difference.
Fear is a natural reaction to risk. While risk is real and external, fear exists only in our imagination. Fear is the workout we give ourselves imagining what will happen if things don’t work out.
And worry? Worry is the hard work of actively (and mentally) working against the fear. Worry is our effort to imagine every possible way to avoid the outcome that is causing us fear, and failing that, to survive the thing that we fear if it comes to fruition.
If you’ve persuaded yourself that risk is sufficient cause for fear, and that fear is sufficient cause for worry, you’re in for some long nights and soon you’ll abandon your art out of exhaustion. On the other hand, you can choose to see the three as completely separate phenomena, and realize that it’s possible to have risk (a good thing) without debilitating fear or its best friend, obsessive worry.
Separate first, eliminate false causation, then go ahead and do your best work.
5-Costly Trading Mistakes
1. Undercapitalized. If the trader does not have the adequate capital to trade with, then money, not learning how to trade, will be the primary focus. Few, if any, ever succeed trading scared money.
2. Overtrading. The idea is to make money and keep it, not give it all back because of recklessness. There is no such thing as being perfect when it comes to trading. Overtrading will easily prove just how imperfect you are.
3. Trading Too Many Markets. Learn to be a specialist because in trading it is best to put all your eggs in one basket while knowing how best to watch and protect that basket very closely.
4. Believing You Are Invincible. Few activities teach humility as well as trading. Seasoned traders respect the risk while novice traders treat success as their birthright.
5. Lack of Dicipline. You have to have a game plan when trading. Failure to have a plan betrays your lack of discipline and feeds your desire to trade off the cuff. Trading this way is a recipe for disaster. Just ask someone who has tried it.
Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable
| In the trading world, you will either make money or lose money on any given trade. All that matters in the end is making more money when you’re right than you lose when you’re wrong. Knowing this, traders have learned to accept failure as part of the game, but they also use the information they acquire from their mistakes as a learning tool. Frequently, what they learn from losing money is more valuable than what they learn when they make money |
17 Keys To Success
Jim Rogers’ Keys to Success (taken from the titles and sub headings of each chapter of the new book, “A Gift To My Children”):
1. Do not let others do your thinking for you
2. Focus on what you like
3. Good habits for life & investing
4. Common sense? Not so common
5. Attention to details is what separates success from failure
6. Let the world be a part of your perspective
7. Learn philosophy & learn to think
8. Learn history
9. Learn languages (make sure Mandarin is one of them)
10. Understand your weaknesses & acknowledge your mistakes
11. Recognize change & embrace it
12. Look to the future
13. “Lady Luck smiles on those who continue their efforts”
14. Remember that nothing is really new
15. Know when not to do anything
16. Pay attention to what everybody else neglects
17. If anybody laughs at your idea view it as a sign of potential success
Positive awareness trumps negative self talk
The language you use as a trader can provide either positive reinforcement through honest self awareness or negative results through demeaning self talk. In other words, when discussing your trading with others or in your journal become aware of how you view yourself. Do you see yourself as an amateur, a whipping post, a loser? Do you blame an indicator or the market or an advisor for your failures and lack of discipline? When you are with others do you brag about your winners and hide your losers? All of this talk is based on fear: fear of being wrong, fear of what others might think of you and your decisions; fear of the market; fear of being afraid. When you practice positive self awareness you create a fertile learning environment that allows you to grow and progress as a BETTER trader, not focus on BECOMING a GOOD trader (implying that you are a bad one). When I work with individuals I often hear the following: “If I would just do this I would become a good trader” or “If I had your discipline I would be a able to make money.” These statements are grounded in a sense of doubt and fear. Instead, these statements should be replaced with “I am becoming a BETTER trader because I know the market cannot hurt me” AND “I am becoming a BETTER trader the more I stick with my rules.” See the difference between the two? One is focused on the joy of progress; the other on the fear of not being good enough. Are you focused on progress or failure? Listen to yourself and you will quickly figure it out. It is EASY to get down on yourself and much HARDER to remain positive in the face of adversity.