Discipline in executing each and every trade according to your trading methodology is the secret to your success. If you want to improve your trading, what you need to do is very simple. Before you enter any trade, imagine that you will have to explain this trade to a panel of your peers, by explaining to them the reason for your entry, your money, trade, and risk management guidelines, and why you exited the trade. Imagine having to explain why you chose this particular market and this particular time frame, along with how you set objectives for the trade, and how you determined where your initial protection would be. If you can truly do this, I strongly believe that you can be successful. Just prior to entering every trade, try to imagine yourself executing the trade perfectly. Imagine how it will feel when you enjoy having made money with your trading. Yes I know, you don't have time to do that. Why? Because you never plan your trades ahead of time. You probably don't have a strategy, and instead of waiting patiently for trade that meets your well-defined parameters and your thought-out plan, you just jump in the minute you think you see something that looks good. You need to take a lesson from a spider. The spider waits patiently in his web until some unsuspecting insect flies into the spider's trap. Have you been flying into any of my traps? I wait for trades that meet my expectations, trades that fit my plan. I wait patiently, and being kind-hearted I don't want any of my readers to land in my web. I'd rather the unsuspecting are readers of someone else's newsletter. But it's amazing how often I get to feed.
You are absolutely 100% spot on. All the TA mastery in the world will not help you until you master your emotions and consistently maintain discipline in your trading. Everybody looks for the holy grail in the wrong places... Discipline is the holy grail. If you master this one principle... you will succeed in trading. If you do not... you will fail. It's that simple. Period.
Sorry ... Knowledge is the holy grail! From Knowledge comes confidence, and from confidence comes discipline. Discipline without knowledge ...
Joe, on the Mara that is what we do but there is plenty of running and chasing involved. What you are sayng is that you are a croc? How will you know, Joe which newsletter writers' subs to bite and which are your own if they all come to the water's edge in their birthday suits? They say crocs can go a year between feeds. But you say you feed often. Help us, Joe. We're hungry.
Good analogy. I like to think of a good trader as a sniper for the discipline and the patience to wait for the good setup. One Shot, One Kill. Here is how the army describes snipers, it is amazing how this can be related to trading. "The sniper has special abilities, training, and equipment. His job is to deliver discriminatory, highly accurate rifle fire against enemy targets that cannot be engaged successfully by the regular rifleman because of range, size, location, fleeting nature, or visibility. Sniping requires the development of basic infantry skills to a high degree of perfection. A sniper's training incorporates a wide variety of subjects designed to increase his value as a force multiplier and to ensure his survival on the Battlefield. The art of sniping requires learning and repetitiously practicing these skills until mastered. A sniper must be highly trained in long range rifle marksmanship and field craft skills to ensure maximum effective engagements with minimum risk. A lot of people have the misconception that to be a good sniper, you have to be a good shooter. Shooting is only 20 percent of the course at the Army Sniper School. It takes a patient person, a disciplined person, a person who is used to working alone. In addition to marksmanship skills, the school instructs on detecting and stalking a target, and estimating the range of a target. The course also covers concealment and camouflage, as well as observation exercises. " ---- Then on the opposite, bad trading (overtrading - unplanned - emotional trading) would be more something like that crazy man in Pulp Fiction that bursts out of the door and starts shooting wildly: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qmaYII9m9QY?fs=1&hl=fr_FR"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qmaYII9m9QY?fs=1&hl=fr_FR" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
I tend to believe (or is it experience?) that discipline discussions are often here to hide the fact that no edge has been found yet. If you've got an edge, and understand it, then it will be quite easy to apply it efficiently. just my 0,02, though
If you've got an edge and understand and use a disciplined methodology to execute it, you'll succeed. Otherwise, an edge poorly executed without a set of rules, in the long run is useless and will ultimately fail.