1) You can’t take your trading to the next level if you don’t know the level you’re playing at. It’s not just P/L; it’s also knowing how you manage risk, how you take advantage of opportunities, how well you execute ideas, etc. Self-improvement starts with self observation;
2) Improving risk-adjusted returns is as important for a long-term career as improving absolute returns. If you take half the trades and make 90% of your previous income, you’ve meaningfully improved. If you take twice as many trades and make 110% of your prior income, you’ve moved backward;
3) Learning to diversify your trading (and income stream) can be as important as improving your core trading. Diversification can be by market, by strategy, by time frame, or by some combination of those;
4) Many times, the best improvements come from doing more of what you’re good at. It helps to make fewer mistakes, but doing less of what doesn’t work is not in itself going to make you a living. It’s crucial to know what you’re really good at;
5) Improving your preparation for trading can be as important as directly working on your trading results. So many outcome results follow from improvements in one’s process.
Most of all, you elevate your trading by always working on your craft. A day without goals is a day without forward movement. And life is too precious to settle for standing still.
Archives of “forward movement” tag
rssTrading and alpine climbing
“To climb mountains is to make decisions…. Good decisions are contextual, based on actual circumstances, and cannot be reduced to a set of rules…. In fact rules, guidelines, and codes, although useful for introducing concepts, ultimately become counterproductive when it comes to actually making choices… The simplest climb involves circumstances far too complex to be adequately addressed by rules. The mountain environment itself forces you to rely on your own skills of observation, your understanding of what you observe, and an accurate assessment of risks and of your own abilities.”
The authors continue: “Rules must be replaced by that mysterious quality called judgment. The acquisition of judgment begins with a mountaineer’s very first climb and continues throughout the climber’s entire career. It is a process that cannot be bypassed nor ever be considered complete.”
Principles that help guide decision making are:
Anticipate changes. “Continually look forward. Every change in terrain, route difficulty, or hazard may require a new strategy, mode of movement, or protective system to deal with new circumstances.” (p. 15)
Keep options open. “Any given decision can either maximize or limit other possible options in the future.”
Analyze benefits and costs. “Addressing one risk or solving one problem often entails introducing other risks or aggravating other problems.”
Maintain momentum. “Staying focused on forward movement means always being a little bit stressed, but in such a potentially dangerous environment, some level of stress is, arguably, appropriate.”
Gather information. “Preparing ahead of time will give you a head start…. Above all, remember what you see. Every glimpse is a new piece of the puzzle.”
Recognize and correct errors. “Rather than expecting perfection, strive to recognize errors as early as possible, and take steps to correct the situation. Do not carry on blindly, hoping that everything will work out. Denial causes delay, piling error upon error until only good luck can prevent things from spiraling out of control.” (p. 16)
Assess your own skill and knowledge. “An honest and dispassionate self-critique is indispensable. For example, the capacity to observe, predict, and respond to cues improves over time, just as movement skills and climbing ability improve with practice; but on the other hand, competence can be degraded temporarily by states such as fear or fatigue or by inadequate information and inaccurate perception.” (p. 17)
Alpine climbers take on considerably more risk than traders. After all, traders lose only money; climbers can lose their lives. But the way to the top demands similar decision-making processes.