“You can give anyone the best tools in the world and if they don’t use them with good money management, they will not make money in the markets. We’re convinced that a person could make a profit simply by buying and selling the markets according to the dart board if they followed all the right things as far as money management is concerned.” — Welles Wilder “Throughout my trading career, I have continually witnessed examples of other people that I have known being ruined by a failure to respect risk. If you don’t take a hard look at risk, it will take you.” — Larry Hite |
Archives of “failure” tag
rssTrading Recipe!
*The recipe for success in trading are as follows:
- *Identify a signal
- *Take immediate action
- Feel good no matter what the result, as long as the trade is consistent with your technical bias based on sound probabilities
On the other hand, experiencing hesitation or self-doubt, just at the moment of action, is the recipe for failure!
Your Comfort Zone
High achievers (in life and in the market) frequently step outside their comfort zone. That’s the way they learn and make progress. At the same time, they also expect to fail (more often than not), but do not see failure or mistakes they make as problems, but as educational experiences.
The natural instinct of all of us is to seek safety and shelter, unfortunately at the exact same time when we should be aggressive and risk tolerant. Those who do well in the market understand this natural human tendency and they consistently work against it when others are doing the exact opposite.
The key for today is to first understand what your comfort zone is and then take a step outside of it. Remember, the market doesn’t reward comfort and decisions that “feel” good to make. That’s the law of nature and it is true of this market like any other.
Think Like Las Vegas
Do you think of each trade as an island, as the great hope, or do you think in terms of probabilities over a series of trades? Casinos make their money by keeping the odds in their favor over a large number of bets. And that’s how successful traders think too. They don’t get attached to the success or failure of any given trade. Their primary goal is to stay calm, relaxed and open to the market’s opportunities so that they can execute their edge precisely and keep the odds in their favor. Thats why I make such a big deal about emotional clearing and staying calm. The emotional clearing technique I use is literally worth tens of thousands of dollars to me in bottom line results.
If you don’t learn from your losses who will?
If you don’t try you don’t fail, if you don’t fail you don’t learn, if you don’t learn you don’t grow” – Om Malik
Failure is an inherent part of trading. No trader can get every trade correct. One of the lessons in the new Jack Schwager book, Hedge Fund Market Wizards, is that “Don’t try to be 100% right.” In fact the pursuit of perfection in trading will likely lead to catastrophic results. That is why some perspective on failure and loss is a key to staying in the trading game.
Atul Gawande, a surgeon and writer, has an interesting piece up at the New Yorker which is a transcript of a commencement speech he recently gave at Williams College.* Although he is discussing medicine his perspective on failure is worth contemplating. Here is a quote:
So you will take risks, and you will have failures. But it’s what happens afterward that is defining. A failure often does not have to be a failure at all. However, you have to be ready for it—will you admit when things go wrong? Will you take steps to set them right?—because the difference between triumph and defeat, you’ll find, isn’t about willingness to take risks. It’s about mastery of rescue.
It is a bit of cliche to say that your trading losses represent tuition paid. If you don’t learn from your own failures no one will. Those losses will then be not just a financial loss but a lost opportunity as well.
Top 10 list from billionaires as to be successful
1. Figure out what you’re so passionate about that you’d be happy doing it for 10 years, even if you never made any money from it. That’s what you should be doing.
2. Always be true to yourself.
3. Figure out what your values are and live by them, in business and in life.
4. Rather than focus on work-life separation, focus on work-life integration.
5. Don’t network. Focus on building real relationships and friendships where the relationship itself is its own reward, instead of trying to get something out of the relationship to benefit your business or yourself.
6. Remember to maximize for happiness, not money or status.
7. Get ready for rejection.
8. Success unshared is failure. Give back — share your wealth.
10. Successful people do all the things unsuccessful people don’t want to do.
What would you add to the “Billionaire’s Secrets” List?
Is stock trading difficult? Depends on who you ask.
Is stock trading difficult? Depends on who you ask. A seasoned trader with the discipline to follow well honed principles will say “trading is not difficult. See how I take losses and let my winners run?” A battered and bruised, emotionally unstable trader will say “the market is difficult. I am getting my @ss handed to me on a platter and it hurts!” A breakeven trader will say, “compared to my broker I am not doing so bad.” Our perspective makes all the difference in our success of failure. If we can have the proper perspective then the market cannot hurt us. The proper perspective includes, but is not limited to, the following: The market will do what it wants to do when it wants to do it regardless of the technical games we play. We win some lose some, in no particular order, on any given strategy. The only trading mistake that matters is when future uncertainty is not properly considered an essential element of risk. The long-term process, not short term outcomes, builds the consistency necessary to tackle market uncertainty. Responsibility accepted before the trade becomes the disciple that carries us through the trade. The best money is oftentimes made by being a non-participating, impartial observer.
So the next time someone asks if stock trading is difficult. What will be our answer? Will it be based on the proper perspective or on the last trade we made? On emotions? On our reaction to price action? News? Compared to what? A successful bust or a skinned knee? The answer can make a difference. |
Accept you will make many mistakes
Those who learn how to minimize the damage when they are wrong and who readily own up to the mistakes they make will do far better over the long haul. Making mistakes is a part of this game, but knowing how to handle them is everything. Likewise, if you attach your ego to your portfolio’s performance you are destined for failure. The market absolutely loves to kill those with big giant egos and who look for the markets as a place to prove how smart they are. Markets chew and spit out these folks routinely for good reason and they will continue to do so at every available opportunity.
10 Secrets To Success
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.
6) Learn To Analyze Details – Get all the facts, all the input. Learn from your
mistakes.
FOCUS
Focus your efforts on the things that work best for you. If there is one trading strategy that works for you, then stick to it as long as it works. Don’t waste time testing everything you find on the Internet and don’t listen to everything you hear or read. Too much information can lead to confusion, difficult choices and failure – eventually.