I agree that Logic and discipline are among the most important positive traits for traders. I believe in myself that through Logic and discipline and other steps I deem necessary to acheive my goals, I will achieve them.
I agree that one must continually monitor the situation and if something occurs while monitoring that is unexpected, you must take the necessary action. At some point though, regardless of your position in the driving lane, from prior experiences, when you see a truck drifiting in your lane, you take the necessary action to go around him rather than crash into him. The Truck is the market that you have no control over, you jsut monitor the truck and take appropriate actions based on prior experiences.
The barriers to success are internal but I would argue that behaviour modification is such a difficult thing that you must look for external ways to direct or modify behaviour. This has been on my mind. I can easily identify my weaknesses as a trader, too easily shaken out and take profit too early, but then again I am still solvent................ An example would be Livermore's insistence that you get in at the pivot point or not at all because it is near impossible to hold through the shakeouts and pullbacks unless you have that profit cushion from the initial markup. Looking back at some stocks that went up hundreds of percent in which I was out on a correction and never went back in I know what he means.
I'm not sure I agree that confidence, ego, and swagger are all the same thing. I 100% agree that confidence is required to become a very successful trader. I don't agree that swagger is. I think of swagger more as OVERconfidence. IMO, swagger is a lack of HUMILITY. That can be very, very dangerous. The sweet spot between confidence and humility is the fine line I try to walk personally. At least that is the path that leads to where I want to go. We are not all shooting for the same star, of course, and that is ok.
No, its a game where you have to know intimately and accurately the market you trade in. Mind fixes, psychological poses and cult thinking hubris do not amount to horsesh*t if you do not know sufficiently what you are doing. The point is the market is there to be your killing field. Do all the problem solving needed, first .. unless, as is usual, it is beyond the 'wannabe' player.
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