Here we are. Back talking about trading discipline – only this time I’m going to show you why I failed in my own trading this past month. More specifically I left not 1 but 2 multi-hundred return trades on the table exiting two trades early and am very disappointed.
Call it what you will, but what I’m most upset about is that I have specific systems in place to prevent this from happening and I ignored them (hopefully for the last time).
Why Am I Telling You All This?
I’ve always tried to make this blog and website as open as possible – everything black and white. More often I’m showing and teaching you how to trade profitably via my own examples rather than explaining why I lost money (though I have been very open about these as well).
It’s the trades that I f****d up that I feel are the biggest lessons for me going forward. And I guess I’m hoping you can learn to avoid these pitfalls as well.
My SLV (Silver) Trade And How I Messed Up
You’ll really want to watch this video and see where and how I messed up in my exits for SLV. I literally left 200%+ returns on the table not once but TWICE. As always, you can subscribe to all my trading videos in HD on YouTube.
The Difference Between Goal Setting And Discipline
Lots of traders have goals. They want to do XYZ in profits or increase their account to some value by the end of the year. I have goals as well and goal setting is very important. But you need to understand that no amount of goals setting can lead to success without strict discipline to a trading plan.
Discipline is the foundation and bedrock of successful traders. And this goes for a whole list of things that relate to trading and wealth – time management, risk management, strategy selection, trading psychology, etc. Hard work and discipline go a long way and eventually will separate you from a million other people out there trading.
Honestly I think that I have great discipline when it comes to 90% of the things I do and am not ashamed to say that. I’m very confident it my abilities and potential to continue making money trading options and stocks. And I’m not perfect nor will I ever be; but I’m improving each day.
Know What You Don’t Know First
Nobody has all the answers. Sure you can attend those guru seminars but I promise you are going to come away completely empty handed in the end. Maybe not empty handed as you might get suckered into buying and overpriced program or DVD set – believe me we have all been there!
Successful traders know what they don’t know…
When you know where your weaknesses are and face up to them you become far wiser than thinking that you know a lot when you really don’t. Again, the video above is a public testament to my own weakness of exiting a trade way early and losing out on potential profits.
What I’m trying to show you all is that it’s okay to have a losing trade! A professional trader knows what he doesn’t know and focuses on improving things the next time around. Direct your focus and attitude on the main thing that IS happening not what you think SHOULD happen in the market.
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I’ve been told by tons of people that you’ve got to either have a lot of money or a really killer system to trade options and win. Some new indicator or signal that will transform your portfolio.
And I’m sure you’ve heard the same thing and are sick of these expensive, dead-end courses and websites wasting your time and money.
Honestly, there is no “magic secret” to trading options. It simply comes down to an understanding of risk management, option pricing and strategy selection.
Instead of learning these lessons the hard way (i.e. losing your shirt in the market), why not take my free 4-part video course as I cover each area in detail. Plus, I’ll go over the exact checklist I use for selecting trades each month!
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