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Do successful traders have different mental models

While much of the focus on trading is around chart patterns, scanners, analytical techniques, indicators, quantitative techniques etc., most of it is commodity. Everyone has access to same tools, techniques, books, research or analysis. So why is it that some traders are very successful and some are not. You can largely divide the traders in to those with consistently good returns, those with mediocre returns and those who are unsuccessful. Most of the time you will find mediocre traders continue to have mediocre returns for long time and their best years never exceed beyond a certain thresh hold.

Much of the same things you will notice in life in general. Vast majority remains stuck in sea of mediocrity. It has nothing to do with innate talent or efforts. Much of it has to do with mental models.

Mental models are deeply held mental images, beliefs, and assumptions. The mental models play a very important role in dealing with world around us. We interpret the world according to our mental models. Two people with different mental models react and interpret same data and same situations differently. Mental models include what a person thinks is true but not necessarily what is actually true.

Successful people in most walks of life have different mental models than mediocre people. That is why successful people can see and act on opportunities which others do not see.

One thing which you can do to be successful in trading or in life in general is to change your mental models. But in reality it is one of the most difficult things to do. Movies often have very dramatic scenes of mental model change leading to transformation in leading character. But in real life changing mental models requires a sustained and structured process and many times requires facilitation by an outside entity. There is a vast array of books and techniques dealing with this field. I have spent years studying this fascinating field of mental modeling.

Once you have the right mental models you see the markets and the trading opportunities differently.

How do *your* coping efforts work for you?

Take a look at how well you trade after a position has gone against you. Do you trade better after a drawdown or worse?

How about after you have a few winning trades, days, or weeks in a row? Do you trade better or worse? Breaking down your performance as a function of recent performance will tell you a great deal about how effective you are in coping with risk and reward.

The other excellent indicator of whether your coping is working for you is your emotional experience during trading. If you find that anxiety, overconfidence, frustration, and stress are pushing you into poor decisions, you know that you’re not coping well with the uncertainties of markets.

Finally, it is helpful to identify the sequences of coping behaviors that you utilize when you’re making good decisions and the sequences when you’re trading poorly. Knowing how your individual coping responses come together to form coping strategies can help you cultivate your coping strengths.

Tracking how you deal with challenges when you are at your most effective enables you to create a mental model of that coping that you can call upon during periods of high stress. We cannot avoid the stresses of trading, but those do not have to generate distress and biased decisions.

How do *your* coping efforts work for you?

effortTake a look at how well you trade after a position has gone against you. Do you trade better after a drawdown or worse?

How about after you have a few winning trades, days, or weeks in a row? Do you trade better or worse? Breaking down your performance as a function of recent performance will tell you a great deal about how effective you are in coping with risk and reward.

The other excellent indicator of whether your coping is working for you is your emotional experience during trading. If you find that anxiety, overconfidence, frustration, and stress are pushing you into poor decisions, you know that you’re not coping well with the uncertainties of markets.

Finally, it is helpful to identify the sequences of coping behaviors that you utilize when you’re making good decisions and the sequences when you’re trading poorly. Knowing how your individual coping responses come together to form coping strategies can help you cultivate your coping strengths.

Tracking how you deal with challenges when you are at your most effective enables you to create a mental model of that coping that you can call upon during periods of high stress. We cannot avoid the stresses of trading, but those do not have to generate distress and biased decisions.