Self-improvement.

If you are having trouble achieving your trading goals, take time out to examine the real causes of your problems.
Working towards improvement will take a dedicated approach on your part. Identification of the problems are the first step. Attacking the problems one at a time is the first part of the solution. Doing the right thing at the right time based on the information you have should be your goal.

Sit down and have an in depth talk with yourself and ask yourself some hard questions. For example:
- do I have the emotional makeup necessary for this business?
- do I have the financial reserves so that I am not relying on trading to pay the bills while I learn?
- do I really enjoy doing this?

Coming up with honest answers will be the only way to ultimately overcome issues that keep getting in your way.
If you keep doing the same things, you will keep getting the same results, so you’ll need to change. Plain and simple. Best not to delay in sorting things out.

My preaching on the emotional context of trading is rooted in my belief that trading is a simple business. Simple, but it is not easy.
After you have crossed the void between developing an edge and your emotional psychology, trading will become easy for you.
After you have really accepted risk, losing decisions and losing money, trading will become easy for you.
After you have learned that the market only displays neutral information and that it is your psyche that tries to spin it in a positive or negative way can you trade without an opinion.

I try to keep trading as simple as possible:

- I don’t listen to any news, TV, people etc. I am not qualified to disseminate all the information available, take all the known and unknown factors into consideration and all the changes that occur minute by minute. I do however know that when a stock is going up, people want to own it and there are green candles, so I buy. When a stock is going down, people don’t want to own it, and so I short or sell it. Simple!

Waiting for the right moment to enter and exit definitely comes with experience. Correct order execution, taking profits when they are offered and cutting losers are also vital to your success.

My mind is not bogged down by indicators, rumours, conjecture or analyst’ reports. It is much easier for me then to concentrate on what really matters – recognizing what the charts are telling me and acting on this information.
Concentrate on the problems you might have. Hesitation, taking big losers, selling winners to soon, screwing up order entry, racing heart and sweaty palms.
Getting to the root of these may be like a journey of self-discovery. I would bet that most come from being afraid to make wrong decisions and lose money. I make wrong decisions and lose money many times a day. But I am quick to realize my wrong decisions and quick to cut my losers. This is a key ingredient of my trading plan.
Really think about why your problems are occurring. Delve deeply into them so that you can explore the way forward.
Take hesitation for example. Do you hesitate when you see a trading set up that meets all the requirements of your edge? Is it fear of being wrong? Fear of losing money? Fear of being right? Fear of making money? Get right down into it. Speak out loud and admit to yourself what it is. Accept it. Only then after acceptance can you work on improving your lot.
Maybe you view it as an overwhelming amount of work to do. Small steps, day by day can bring positive action to your trading and make it seem that the task is not so big after all.
Strive for a state of mind of ambivalence. The market is going to do whatever it’s going to do with or without your participation. It’s up to you to appreciate the known risk, unknown factors that can happen and just go with the ebb and flow of the markets. Simplify your trading style down to just candlesticks on your monitors. Turn off the TV.
Think about one thing to change today that can bring you a positive improvement.