It’s natural to come to trading with dollar signs in your eyes and dreams of financial freedom. It’s the lure of big money that brings us to trading and of course the intellectual challenge…..at least that’s what we tell ourselves. But what really is the goal of a trader? Is it to make money? Is it to make a million dollars? Two, three, four points per day? The answer is none of these. And this is where most traders go wrong. They come to trading thinking that the goal of trading is to make money.
How many other careers have you had before becoming a trader? Did you go in to that career thinking about how much money you were going to make? Or did you focus on the task as hand, your job description? Did you think….”Hey if I nail this board to the wall and then hang sheet rock on it then I will make $25.00 for that hour!”. Or did you find yourself thinking “I have to make sure the studs are level and 16″ on center and I have put this sheetrock on the wall flush with the corner? ” Were you thinking “as soon as I finish this proposal I will make $500.00!”, or were you thinking “I hope I covered everything in the proposal and handled all the possible objections? I went down my checklist and it seems like this proposal is solid!”
You see in all other careers you focused on the task as at hand, your actual job and if you did a great job, at the end of the week you were paid for a job well done. You followed all the steps laid out by the company your worked for, you did everything on time, you double checked your work for errors, and then you turned in your papers, your project, hung that sheetrock, or successfully did your presentation. And while all of that was going on you never once thought about the money….right??? Because you knew if you did your best, got the job done, at the end of the week you got a paycheck.
Somehow that is lost in trading. Why do traders come to the table ONLY thinking about the money. How much they can make or how much they can lose? That seems to be the theme for most traders and I am here to tell you it is absolutely 100% without a doubt going to ruin your trading and your results. Why? Because it’s called “Trading Your Wallet”. The real goal of a trader is not to make money. Money is the byproduct of a job well done. Your goal each day is to come to your trading desk and be the best possible trader you can be. Follow your rules as close and strictly as possible. To take the best possible trades according to your trading plan, and to execute your plan with pin point accuracy and precision. If you did all of that each and every day….you WILL MAKE MONEY (provided you have a sound method).
Money is not the goal, money is the by product of properly executing your trading plan to the best of your ability. Money happens as a result of following your plan, taking your trades, and doing your job, just like any other career. When you understand this your focus shifts from “outcome oriented thinking” to “task oriented thinking”. Your focus is on doing the next right thing, not on how much money you will make or lose. You focus on the tasks for trading, not the outcome. Will this be a winner? Will it be a loser? Will I make 3 ticks or 2 points? Will the market hold this level or break? This is all outcome oriented thinking and creates conflict and hesitation in your trading.
Task oriented thinking says “OK, the market broke important support. We have confirmation from our primary setup. My entry is at X and I must wait for a pullback within 2 ticks of that price to enter. I will place a 2 point stop. I will take 1/2 position off at one point, and let the other 1/2 run to the next extended target while moving my stop accordingly. ”
Do you see the difference between these two points of focus? If you are thinking about the outcome you are knee deep in your emotions. If you are thinking about the task, you are calmly doing your job without much thought to whether you win our lose because you know the probabilities are in your favor IF YOU FOLLOW YOUR RULES and do your job, take the best possible trades.
This is what we teach each day in our program. We are only concerned with what’s the next right thing to do. We focus on taking the best possible highest probability trades and letting the trading work for us knowing our success rate is in the 80% to 90% accuracy.
If you find yourself worried about the outcome of any trade, then you are in an emotional state. Fear comes from worrying about what might happen or worrying about what just happened, all the while totally missing what is happening now in the current moment where the best trading decisions are made.
Good Trading!
JC
