I have something I want to get off my chest, and although most of you will feel that this more of the same from me, I really want you to read this. It’s important.
In the past 4 months, I have worked with about 30 traders in the web-based training and another 50 traders in the live training. These traders are from every continent on the globe. They are from all different economic and educational backgrounds. Some had trading experience. Some did not. Some I thought would be failures. There was one in particular, at a live training event, that I specifically considered to be totally unfit for trading, and this person has been the 2nd most successful trader of this year – and is now making a living from trading.
The fact is, that a greater percentage of my students are trading successfully than ever before. Easily, more than 25 of these 50 traders are now ending every week with positive pips. The number is probably closer to 35 or 40.
People always ask me: what’s the secret to success? And I tell them. Then I tell them again. Then I tell them again. But hardly anyone listens. Perhaps I don’t say it loud enough. Or often enough. Or angrily enough. Maybe, finally, more of you are listening than ever before. So I want to take a moment and remind you of the most important things you can know about trading.
1. Find and focus on ONE trading system, method, or approach. I teach stuff like this in the training I do, but you can find systems everywhere.
2. Once you have a system or approach, never violate the rules or methodology of that system. Take the channel trading that I do, for example. There are only a few ways to use those channels – redline closebreaks in the direction of the channel’s slope; fibble closebreaks in the direction of the channel’s slope; Winnipeg Specials. That’s nearly all I do. Once you have the system in place, then wait patiently for your setup. Never jump in before your setup.
3. Never complain. If you are wondering if you can do this, if you doubt yourself, if you think that support and resistance is too hard for you, then do this: get a job working on a farm, milking cows or shoveling manure. Or go work for some crappy boss in some crummy cubicle for 12 hours a day, 45 minutes away from your house. Or go work for a fast food chain. Is that what you want instead? Listen: driving a car wasn’t easy at first. Learning to walk was not easy at first. The very best traders I have worked with all stopped whining and determined that they would be successful and they would not let anything get in their way. If you have an attitude problem, then fix it now.
4. Refer to #3. Here are the major complaints that I hear. First, that drawing support and resistance is discretionary. My answer: No duh. Start practicing. Send your charts to a friend, to me, to as many people as possible. Trade charts back and forth for a month and then see if it is still “discretionary.” Second complaint: that you don’t have enough time each day. Well, you know what? The best trader I have ever worked with, who is now helping to manage money with me and Max, he didn’t have time either. He worked from 8pm to 2am each night, then literally slept at his desk and waited for trades to trigger. After trading and sleeping on and off, he went to work selling cars during the day. Then he got home, at quickly, and went back to work. He made more pips every week than anyone. No complaining. Just performance. If you want to do this for a living, then you have to make sacrifices.
5. Clean up your life. Eat better. Speak and think kindly of others. If someone hurts you, then do something kind to them in return. Forgive easily, including yourself. Stop close associations with people who are negative, who complain about other people, who put you or others down, or who seem never to be able to be happy. This is all part of living with discipline, which is the easiest way to get what you want in life. But here’s the catch: gaining discipline can be one of the hardest things to do in life. Please remember that if you are a mean, vengeful person, then you will attract meanness and vengeance back to yourself, in your relationships, in your health, and in your trading.
