Maybe there's a misunderstanding... You said "Discipline is easy enough once you know what you are doing...". The process involved to have discipline regardless if one is profitable or losing...its very difficult. Seriously, the road to a top level of anything in life is not easy. Its hard work...a ton of time and energy put in it. Heck, I remember the F1 driver Hamilton saying something similar a few years back...racing is easy once you know what you're doing. He doesn't mention the process it takes to become a F1 driver, investments in his career, sponsorship needed, top crew, demands/pressure on his family and all kind's of things I don't have a clue about...then one day he states that racing is easy. In contrast, anyone that knows just a little about F1 racing and his career...looking in from the outside...there's nothing easy about it and I'm sure his thoughts came to that conclusion after all that hard work became fruitful. Thus, I know he doesn't mean that anyone can do it and when they do it...its easy and they'll have success on day one. Unfortunately, there will be idiots out there that will see his statement the wrong way and believe that its easy to become a successful F1 race car driver and that anyone can do it. This is a big misconception with trading. We have people getting involved in trading because they believe "anyone can do it and that profitably trading is easy". Some are so convince...they'll take obscene high interest loans, second mortgages on their home, borrow money from friends/family, abuse margins/leverage, trade in markets they should not be trading under the facade...trading profitably is easy just because they heard or read others say such. My point is that any kind of success in life (e.g. sports, raising a family, career or whatever) requires a lot of work, time and energy. Most underestimate the time and energy involved and they will fall short of their goals. Some will understand how difficult it will be but will fail and then conclude its not possible...a small percentage of those that fail may even decide to spend their time & energy advocating its not possible to only grow negative energy to the point it derails them from success in other areas of their lives...causing a vicious circle of blame. Yet, a small percentage will succeed and it was not easy to get there and its not easy to maintain. Therefore, getting back to your quote. The part I see that's the real concern or the most important aspect...its the part that states once you know what you are doing. There's something contradiction like involving those words versus racing is easy, discipline is easy or consistent profits is easy. My opinion since day one...trading is very difficult even when you reach that point of knowing what you're doing. This is no different than recently reading from many traders here at ET in the past month that say "trading profitably is easy...". There's a difficult process involved to become profitable and only a small percentage of traders can do it and talk about the process. Just the same, only a small percentage of traders can become "discipline traders". You said it yourself...you mention your problems and you had to find (discover) a way around it to become profitable and consistent...so far its been working for a year now for you. That's an enormous accomplishment although I don't know how difficult the process was for you to find a way to work around your discipline problems. This entire conversation brings me back to someone's trade journal here at ET in which this guy average about 2k in profits on most mornings and then average about 2.5k in losses on most afternoons to result on most trading days a loss around $500 dollars. It had been going on for about a month until someone told him he was trying to outsmart the market instead of trying to be profitable. He didn't understand that statement...had a few more losing days until he had that light bulb moment about that recent reply by someone. Don't trade in the afternoons. It worked for awhile (he had consistent profits for a few weeks) until he tried to outsmart the market and went back to trading the afternoons...maybe because his consistent profits (banking it) gave him too much confidence. Soon after (within a few days) he had a big blowup day and called it quits. This now ties back into what fordewind was talking about. I think many of us need someone else in the home office with us...someone that has a way to encourage us to follow our trading plan after we found a way to be profitable. I think many traders will perform better because they are maintaining that discipline due to some kind of pressure that keeps us from on track sort'uv speak. Then after some consistent success, they can then try the lone wolf at home trader environment if that's their ultimate goal. Now I'm curious about you Vindago. You stated you found a way to work around your discipline problems and now your consistently profitable for about a year now. Is there someone in your home office with a gun, baseball bat or hooked you up to wires for electric shock to help you manage your discipline problems although I prefer the horny beautiful woman as a reward to help me maintain discipline.
Yeah, the horny beautiful woman would be a great help, in any sense! so, let me requilify my previos statement: it is very hard and painful journay that that may bring the aspiring trader into consistent profitability, no doubt about that. Moreover, most will fail, part because they do not do the work, part because gets stuck on path to nowhere, part simply beacuse that may just not be suited for trading. however, once you get there where you can read the market (not predict but understand where are the low risk trades) I believe that all the stress on discipline will dissipate as you will have a way to know if your trade is working or not and act accordingly based on the trading style you have developed for yourself. I am pretty sure that if should tell how I trade (will never do so, by the way) to other traders they will say I am crazy or that I am doing it all wrong, well maybe they would be rght or maybe not, I do not care as my P/L does not lie and it is very happy with me!!! So, my 2 cents to newbie is forget about finding the answer in any book, but spend time looking at what price do and figure out your own style for trading as there are 1,000,000 ways to skin a cat, only one or two may be right for you... Finally, there is nobody in my office to keep me in line but myself and I am a pretty lazy person so often enough I forget to keep myself in line, but no worry, the way I trade give me plenty of time to fix whatever I screw up...
I think most human beings have challenges based on either growing up or negatives of trading and relations built during the years of losing we have a constant, I certainly do. The systems I have built through the years, they all now are built to chase away the weaknesses I have from life but that does not mean I don't have weaknesses as I do. It is like I am on a diet, I need to get rid of the last 85 pounds as at one time I weighed 454lbs cause doctors had me on steroids to combat Sarcoidosis disease, if I had not taken myself off this drug and switched to Tumeric to get rid of inflammation, I be dead from weight, but even though I know being obese will kill me going into my 60s, I get deep cravings for pizza or glass of beer and from time to time have couple of bits or swallows of each. So I have built a good method, but can't get rid of the "itchy" fingers feelings. Am sure you have mental wants you would like to get rid.
Weak weak mind.Your probably very very kind dude.I prefer to be heartless, instead.I could be generous,at times,but not kind.Feel the difference?
Weakness can be strength. If you are inflexible, you break more easily. Acknowledging that people are different, have different struggles and "assets", is also an important kind of strength - empathy. Without it, you can very suddenly make an ass out of yourself. In the end, absolutely all strength will be removed from us all. What will remain then?
ROFLMAO !!! Well, what I am instead of you is a realistic and I know my faults through age, it is better to know who you are than to mask over. What you see as kind, I see as obligation to human beings. And when it comes to trading, if I think I am trading against you, I will take you last nickel and feel nothing that I did, dog eats dogs when it comes to working in this environment. See the difference?
The strength is your Mind.You ask what will remain?Your unconcious will remain,which is very very weak and untrained.Now imagine the demons you`ll have to deal with when your mind is gone.Now you have the Holy Grail,but it`s not enough to have it.How are you gonna use it?
I usually welcome my demons with open arms. No training required, cause they just listen to people's whims and fantasies.
But you can`t leave your algorithms alone(you say they been well tested),and you need enemies to trade against.Why is that?