Don't Hijack Yourself

I have the opportunity to speak with many traders each week, all with varying degrees of experience.  It's interesting to me that no matter how experienced or how successful a trader has been, they still make mistakes - like the $KDP trade above where I held to long.  

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But there is a significant difference between an experienced trader making a mistake and more novice traders doing the same exact thing.  Veteran traders identify the mistake they have made, correct it and then continue trading whereas novice traders often stop trading "for awhile" and in doing so sabotage the process that would help make them more successful.  One of the most common mistakes I see traders making is learning a methodology and then only taking the trades that "feel right" to them and then wondering why the methodology is "not working." 

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Look, if a trade methodology produces three candidates per week and you only take one or two, but not all of them, then you are completely diminishing the rule of large numbers normalizing returns.  Worse, you are not allowing probabilities to run their course.  

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I learned very early in my life that if you want to be successful, do what successful people do.  To be blunt: you cannot decide WHILE YOU ARE LEARNING which parts of a successful person's actions/methods/tools you will use and which you will not.  You lack the experience and the hours to be "tweaking" methodologies and in doing so, you are all but guaranteeing failure.  Furthermore, you have not had enough time to build up Emotional Tolerance and therefore, you will be quicker to resort to bad habits or quit entirely.

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Part of the process is breaking the habit of losing.  Harsh words but true.  If you are continually losing on trades, with a win here or there that gives you false hope - YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG and you should stop trading.  Seriously.  

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I cannot tell you how many times I have seen someone be excited to learn and then within weeks, they are looking at another "system" or making changes.  This is the definition of insanity. Moreover, if I have not made my case for why using math, TA and probabilities is superior to 99% of the garbage techniques out there then there is little left I can do to prove to you the following:

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Your (old) way of investing/trading is wrong.

My way of trading is right.

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Note that I did not say that my way is the ONLY way - it is just much better than your way.  I know I am being blunt but I believe we are very close to the start to what could be a history making down move and if you do not prepare and CHANGE, your account will be destroyed.

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Let me put this the simplest way possible: if you realize that how you have been doing it has not worked, then it's time to get serious about shit-canning those habits.  

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Either jump in the deep end with both feet or get out because you cannot be halfway about adopting new methodologies and habits.

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For my VIPs (not anyone specifically): if you want to be like a pro then do the things a professional does - which is not moving from on strategy or asset to another or by tweaking what I have taught you.  You do not have the knowledge or the experience to do so, yet.

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One final note: along with learning early in my life to mirror what successful people do I learned another important lesson: do not let the opportunity before you pass.