Here's another great post from Brett Steenbarger,
Consider what your trading development would be like if you accepted the simple premise that, in some measure and on some occasions, you are already the trader you wish to become.
What if, at times, you already recognize market patterns, generate solid trading ideas, and manage risk well? What if you don't need to work on your trading problems at all and, instead, simply need to harness the influences that enable you to trade well?
What if everything you need to succeed is already part of who you are and what you do? What if the only change you require is to become more consistent with your strengths and competencies?
Would you still seek out advice from gurus? Would you still look for answers in the latest indicators and systems? Or would you devote yourself to becoming the best you can be--enacting the best within you--confident that the answers you seek have been part of you all along?
I cannot emphasise enough how much this post captures the basis of trading well, to me. That you don't need more stuff you just need to practise what you have. That the endless search for market knowledge is wasted time. You are better taking what you know and testing and practising that to death. After you have the basics everything else is just another layer of wasted complexity. Whats required is working on your strengths - niche development.
And I bet if you take what interests you and what you know you can do well and test and practise and refine it with real honest review you would not need any more gurus or indicators. You would have enough to work on to stop you wasting time on the search for the holy grail.
Further more nothing will motivate you and sustain your drive and attention like your own creations. Your own little baby. So here is a practical little exercise to get you going on the birth of your little baby. It's the what I like/dislike about myself. It's a good technique used by shrinks to pick open problems but very helpful to open up your trading.
Grab a nice big sheet of paper, make two columns and on the left put everything that you like about your trading and on the right everything you dislike about your trading. For example,
Like Dis-Like
Quick to execute trades Lose interest with slow trading
Excited about intraday trading Over leverage my trades
Good with back testing for stats Waste capital on unplanned trades
Good at trading the open on the futs
Something that may help is pulling out old statements and charts of trades, both good and bad, to jolt your memory. Don't get too down on yourself about the dis-like column, shit happens. The point is to pick the good stuff and get excited about that. To find your niche and work it. At the same time don't throw away the dislike column either there will be some good stuff in there to work on, at some time. But you don't need to work on the D word, see last post, you need to build on your strengths to succeed.
Great post TH! Can't agree with you more on the importance of finding your own niche.
Cheers
Posted by: Sakk | February 23, 2009 at 04:09 PM