10 Ways to Deconstruct Your Trading and Build a Better Plan
When I was a 16, I was absolutely desperate to get a car. My pop insisted that if I wanted to drive, I had to learn to take an engine apart and put it back together until I understood not just the theory of how it worked but had gotten my hands dirty with first hand experience. That was the beginning of many weekends over the years deconstructing engines, figuring out what was wrong with them and putting them back together.
Just like a mechanic, to be successful as traders we need to learn how to diagnose the different aspects of our trading and repair, replace, or adjust them. For some that’s a bit of fine tuning, for some its a complete overhaul!
I am convinced from my own experience that to be a profitable trader you have to develop the ability to diagnose, and to take an honest and detailed approach to the different areas of your trading. It doesn’t work to be vague or waffly about such important matters as the expectancy of your trading method or your state of focus during the trading day. You have to know EXACTLY what’s going on, what your issues are. And it takes a lot of courage, and a burning desire to succeed, in order to face them.
If taking a detailed measure of everything doesn’t come naturally (it was a hell of a struggle for me) you have to somehow dig deep and develop the discipline to do it.
Here are ten areas of diagnostic - with questions to stimulate your inquiry:
1. Method
Do you know your method’s expectancy? If it isn’t profitable in testing, don’t trade it!
2. Clarity
mo christiensen is one of the editors of the successful tradingadviceblog.com. the site specializes in high quality trading advice and profitable trading systems for new and struggling traders. see the original article in context at http://tradingadviceblog.com/trading_methods/10-ways-to-deconstruct-your-trading-and-build-a-better-plan
