“Trading requires you to be wrong on a regular basis – in
fact you are wrong more often than you are right. And this constant grind
requires a certain degree of fortitude to endure.” – Chris Tate
There’s no way to become
victorious easily.
You don’t become victorious by
trying to be victorious. You become victorious be surmounting the challenges
life puts in your way.
Trading success doesn’t come by
accident. You’d attain it through hard work, humble acceptance of reality,
faithful endurance under difficult challenges. What a remarkable example for
many traders today! Never forget that your breakthrough is largely in your own
hands.
Trading mastery isn’t beyond your
ken, though you might emote that nothing good comes cheap. Where you’re coming from doesn’t matter, but
where you’re going. Your dismal trading experiences shouldn’t deter you from
attaining your dreams as a victorious trader.
Difficult Markets Produce Fine Results
Unlike those who become envious
and sad when they see their fellow human beings making solid achievements in
life, I’m happy whenever someone becomes successful in life. I’m happy whenever
I come across a successful trader, just because it strengthens my conviction
that it’s possible to be a winning trader. This also serves as a powerful
testimony to doubting Thomases in the public.
As a one-on-one trading coach (not
via webinars or trading rooms), I’ve trained many people the art of trading and
I’m happy whenever they go on to become successful market players.
Some people completed their
training and then abandoned the markets. Some didn’t bother to finish their
training. Some completed their training and then abandoned the Golden Rules
given to them, doing something else. Every strategy under the sun must be
accompanied by the Golden Rules; otherwise the joy of trading won’t last long.
I need to mention this fact: Trainees simply do themselves a favor
when they get coached by successful traders who’re also talented teachers.
It’s common for someone to think they’re doing you a favor by hiring you to
coach them. Unless the coach isn’t a successful trader on her/his own (which is
very common), it’s the coach who’s doing the trainees a favor by revealing
their winning systems, which took them many years to perfect.
It’s a great joy for me to see
that some of my former trainees are now successful – a good evidence that
difficult markets produce fine results.
One of those successful traders
who happened to be a past trainee is called Caleb by name. He got coached
several years ago and undoubtedly, he was practicing with the markets.
Last year, some of his
acquaintances told me that Mr. Caleb had been making money from the markets.
That was no big deal, for the Golden Rules of trading work for everybody who
applies them faithfully, but what made me surprise was the fact that year 2015
was a very difficult year for traders, and if anyone made money in the markets
in that year, then it’d be much easier for the person to make money in years
when the markets become favorable.
I began to plan an appointment
with Mr. Caleb because his trading results in the year 2015 were 3 times better
mine (who’s his former coach). Some days later, he sent me his full account
history. I was amazed to see that he made decent profits in the most difficult
months of that year. This guy wasn’t a lucky gambler who used high risk to make
maximum profits in a short period of time. Instead, he’s a conservative trader
who goes for very small but consistent profits.
I was also amazed by these facts I
discovered in his trading habits:
- His
was trading manually
- His
trading took him only 5 hour per week, for he was then working full time
for an employer
- His
position sizing methods were safe and sensible
- He
used stop loss and stuck to them religiously
- He’s
one of the most disciplined traders I’ve ever seen. He sometimes cuts his
negative positions before they hit his stops
- He
sometimes used take profits, but not always (a method exposing him to
unlimited gains which can wipe out his many small losses)
- He’s
the fortitude and patience to endure days or weeks of losses, knowing that
some big wins would soon wipe out those losses
The above list is part of his
secrets. I think some of these things are what every trader should do,
irrespective of their trading methodology.
One day, as I was walking beside a
paved road on a campground, he pulled up his jeep and gave me a lift. We talked
briefly and he gave me an appointment. I appreciated this because he was a very
busy man.
That’s another point. He was able
to trade his way to success despite his very tight schedule, contrary to the
excuses certain people give for not trying trading (they wrongly think they’re
too busy to trade). I was able to see Mr. Caleb where he lived. He told me that
the trading method he used was similar to what I gave him several years ago,
but with some modification.
What was this modification? That
was what I wanted to know. Clearly a former trainee can become better than his
coach. Mr. Caleb is a good example. He’s a bright trader indeed!
I interviewed him about his entry
criteria, risk control style and money management approach. What were his stop
loss and take profit levels? What factors did he consider before making trades?
What about his exit strategies? Mr. Caleb took out his laptop and explained
everything to me in a generous and transparent way.
The interview was an eye-opener. It would be posted in the second part of these series, so
that you can gather some points that might potentially help you in your own
trading too.
This piece is ended by the quote
below:
“The fact that I trade my own strategy, in my own broker
account, lets people know that I believe in my own work, and I'm willing to
stand behind it with my own money.” - Jan Roozenburg
