Some Thoughts About How to Succeed in Trading

Some thoughts I am having about how to succeed in trading that I trust help and serve your trading journey. Not a complete list, but hopefully it gives you an insight into what it takes.

The Nine Principles

1. 1
   Consistency matters more than talent

   I kept showing up no matter what, so I developed what people call talent, which is really me working for years to get great at this one thing. Deliberate practice over time is the only real talent factory that exists.
2. 2
   Feedback from those ahead of you is gold

   Shut up and accept all of it with gratitude. There are actually people who care enough to help you correct your faulty trajectory. Appreciate them especially when the feedback is not what you want to hear.
3. 3
   Limit whinging to two minutes

   Then get back to building something that you love. I am a fairly negative person, so I have learned to focus on what is working and what works, rather than everything that is not how I want it to be.
4. 4
   Measure and analyze your performance

   If you cannot measure and analyze your trading performance, you are not a fully functioning trader. I got great at performance metrics, and I still search for traders I respect to study their trading and thinking strategies. I do this because I see how many traders have to quit, broke. It seems the obvious thing to do.
5. 5
   Study. Over and over again.

   I still study. I study systems. I study patterns. I study thinking. I study strategies. I study myself. There is no magic, just learned competence. The day you stop studying is the day you start going backwards.
6. 6
   Think big

   I set my sights on ambitious goals, not just in trading but anywhere in my life, and I study and take tiny steps to make them reality. Big vision plus small daily action is the only equation that consistently works.
7. 7
   Stop focusing on just getting it right

   Mediocre results come when we focus on getting it right. I never wanted mediocrity. If the majority of traders worry about avoiding mistakes, looking good to others, and never being wrong, I trained myself not to worry about that. I changed my emotional soup, my values, my beliefs, so that making mistakes meant progress, and that the only way to truly learn is to lean in and push through no matter how painful.
8. 8
   Support others, champion others, give to others

   It is so easy to be a selfish, self-involved trader. The world does not need more of that. Your generosity with knowledge and encouragement will return to you in ways you cannot predict or plan for.
9. 9
   Be loyal

   When someone makes a mistake, stick by them. We have all stuffed up. Loyalty in a profession as isolating as trading is rare and precious. Be the trader you wished you had beside you at the very start.

Core Mantras