THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON I’VE LEARNED on my journey to become a consistently profitable trader.
My journey started in 2007 but in 2008 paused and didn’t resume again until 2021 (a story for another thread)
I’ve put in a LOT of hours and one lesson stands out
🧵/1
My struggles are undoubtedly very similar to many others’. They play out like this:
Find a strat
Back test. Looks good! Paper trade.
Doing great. Then paper acct blows up.
What went wrong?
Look for new strat.
Rinse and repeat.
It’s a psychologically damaging cycle.
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Things that will nuke an account:
Not being consistent.
Changing strategies regularly.
Moving around the rules mid-trade.
And we’ve all been there.
Recently I realized something. ..
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See, watching gigabrains like @luckychartape who never seem to miss made me think ‘there MUST be a perfect strategy out there’
But there’s thousands upon thousands of strategies.
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You could literally test and paper trade a new strategy every month for the rest of your life…and never realize actual gains.
Because it’s NOT ABOUT THE STRATEGY.
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You could read every trading book in existence and keep finding GREAT strategies and never stop blowing up your account.
Because in the end you can have a brilliant strategy but poor execution and fail.
Or a mediocre strategy but great execution and profit.
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So what is the secret to great execution?…..
Trading psychology.
Because 80% of the trade is what’s going on in between your ears.
A perfect strat can only account for 20%. So even if you have a meager 10% strat, mastering the mental part still makes you win.
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I realized this when I kept reading BOOK after BOOK learning all kinds of strategies but kept blowing up accounts.
Trading IS A SKILL so it can be mastered. But not by learning everything about the markets.
No, instead you must learn everything about yourself.
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So on my journey to totally master my trading psychology here are the books I’m reading/have read so far:
The Disciplined Trader (depicted)
Trading in the Zone
The Mental Game of Trading
Mastering Trading Psychology
And I’m always hunting for more.
🧵/9
So if you’re stuck, maybe you’re focusing on the wrong skill.
Reading markets is cool but the money comes from mastery of self.
Cheers mfkers
🧵/ finis