The Big secret to trading success

I discovered, a while ago, that my brother-in-law, who works for an investment company, but knows nothing about trading, had written to my ill Father to tell him how his son ( me ) was nothing more than a gambler, attempting to succeed with something that was statistically impossible, a fool in a business in which 100% fail. At the time I was struggling, not having yet attained the proficiency and the success I have achieved today. My Father trusted my brother-in-law and believed him because of where he worked, and the worry the letter caused him worsened his condition and he died not long afterwards, before I was able break through and turn my trading into the full-time profession it is today.

I have never forgiven nor will I ever forgive the pain that letter caused and I have not spoken to my brother-in-law since.

It is for this reason that I posted the above, because I know that there must be thousands of traders who like you and I, have or are struggling with the huge burden of negativity from others, especially from one's own family. It is because to the lay person, who knows nothing of the markets, trading is just gambling, and they look at the supposed 95% fail statistic to back up their argument. You, me , and all traders know otherwise, so we just have to accept that there will be people close to us who will seek to derail our work and discourage us when in fact encouragement is what we most need. Your profile says it all, for it is the strength of our conviction and the resolve to never give up which eventually wins through, but it can be a long, painful process.

Thanks for your reply, and I'm really happy you won through!!

Cat, wow, that's terrible !!!


Really sad that he didn't see you succeed.

But that's only on our level here.

Somewhere else he will know.

Calculus - always loved Tintin :-))) - I agree there is the odd nugget to be found on boards, but generally Pareto's 20% of input results in 80% of output law applies here too, only with a way worse ratio of good stuff vs outright nonsense I'd say.

;-)

This really nails it perfectly.

Hmm tried to quote sthg no idea why that didn't show up. What I meant was what Numbnuts wrote here in post 5:

"Out of complexity find simplicity. It kind of describes what I've been trying to do in trading for a long time - boiling down a lot of information and techniques into their most simple common denominators.

'Trade with the trend' is one of those simple rules that has been around forever, that traders hear on day one and then keep hearing again and again .... along with things like "Protect your capital" ..... "Buy dips, sell rallies" .... "Don't bet against the big players" .... "Ride your winners, cut your losers" .... "Be patient, pick the best trades".

The reason most traders lose, is they convince themselves it can't be that easy, and instead of devoting themselves to a thorough study of those basic principles they immediately start seeking complex solutions to problems that either aren't there or don't need solved. It's an ego thing - nobody wants the simple solution that gets handed to them, everybody wants to be the genius that solves the unsolvable problem."

Great minds thinking alike:

Paul Tudor Jones:

“The illusion has been created that there is an explanation for everything with the primary task to find that explanation.”
https://www.trendfollowing.com/2012/...appears-at-85/

Trading may be lots of things, but it most definitely is not Rocket Science.

It's only over-complication due to lack of understanding of what the truly success relevant factors are in a probability game and an inability to accept losses as the cost of doing business as a trader that they are that makes net profitable trading an insurmountable hurdle for the huge majority.

They find a perfectly workable system, encounter a couple of system immanent and perfectly normal losses and either start adding extra layers of complexity and filters etc or throw it out the window straight away and start searching for the next non-existent Holy Grail or false Guru to follow.

Ad infinituum.

And before they know it their lives are over and they never achieved success.

I agree, it was a great post. But let us not think that trading is somehow easy, because we all know that it isn't. The hardest part is finding the simplicity, because it is well hidden and does not reveal itself easily.

I agree Cat.

What I meant was the mechanics are simple enough.

Identify the path of least resistance.

Enter on a pullback.

Shoot for bigger winners than losers.

And you ARE set for life.

But of course it isn't easy, absolutely true, because it's never us against the market, what it boils down to is it's us against ourselves.

But that is sthg that confidence in your system because of what you've seen it can achieve, first in Sim mode, hopefully, and then in real life, can cure.

Never perfectly, the best of the best still get whacked from time to time, but the inner demons do at least become smaller over time.

THE TRUE SECRET TO FOREX

I'm not religious, but it would be nice to think so. Actually, I was alone with him right at the end, and the last words he spoke were " I believe in you ", words which, above all else, gave me the strength and determination to persevere.

This is absolutely essential. Never, ever, risk more than you can afford to lose, To allow a losing trade to become an even bigger losing trade is completely unforgivable, displaying as it does a recklessness and incompetence that will be punished by the markets time and time again.

Cat, that is absolutely beautiful what your Father told you and the effect that had.

If one can be so positive when leaving this realm one must have had a peaceful passing.

I've actually always believed that the by far most important determinant of success, or lack of, in life, is belief in oneself and desired outcomes.

Coupled with all important self efficacy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-efficacy

[quote=DashRiprock;8899827 " belief in oneself and desired outcomes " quote]

It is everything

Some good reads from those who have walked the walk and their take on the relationship between belief and success and the importance of visualising goals:



http://web.archive.org/web/200102090...ntal/index.htm

http://minervini.com/blog/


http://www.darvastrader.com/2014/09/...nder-pressure/

http://web.archive.org/web/200202050...aderpsych.html

http://www.nightingale.com/articles/...angest-secret/


http://dacharts.org/archives/Ensign_...dingtips62.htm

Ruth Barrons Roosevelt, Anxiety and Faith

Trading in Insecurity and Doubt for Self-Confidence: 8 Starter Tips

Self efficacy a Key to Success | The Cognitive Behavior Therapist

These guys attribute all of their success to visualization and self-belief:

http://www.amazon.com/Trade-Like-ONe.../dp/0470616539

No difference really to what differentiates top athletes from their lesser brethren: what goes on between the ears.

If you think you can, if you think you cannot, etc.

;-)

Yes it certainly takes a long time to become an overnight success.

my son gave me a book some time ago and it was called "Outliers: The Story of Success"

The main point in the book is that all successful people regardless of how much talent they have put in 10,000 hours of work to be good at whatever they choose then never stop practicing to be the very best.

I think I'm getting close to that now and I am developing a different mind set now and I'm very close to becoming a "Trader"

It has been a long journey but I can see the finish line very clearly!

I believe that the 5% that succeed do so because they want it more than the other 95%.

They will do whatever it takes!

[quote=Troonman;8900428....... I believe that the 5% that succeed do so because they want it more than the other 95%. They will do whatever it takes! [/quote]

Truer words were never spoken!

Exactly. It amazes me how many people come to this forum, and ask questions that betray that they skipped to the last page of every thread they read, and then want spoon feeding. Do you know what I do?

I spoon feed them. I answer every question they ask.

Why?

Because they worry about entries. They worry about exits. But entries and exits do not the trader make. I have read almost every thread here, from page one.

If I had not done that, I would still be spinning my wheels. At some point, the trader will realize that managing this business is like managing every other business.

I am sorry for your father and that your closest people did not understand you. Trading is a lonely business. I have been in a similar situation, maybe not that intense. The thing about most people - they just want to see money on the table. They do not believe and trust in anything else but money. They do not pay attention to others dreams, qualities, chances, thoughts. They just look at money. Everything has a price tag. Unless you buy some fancy stuff and demonstrate your wealth, they do not believe that you can actually make any money out of anything. The moment you start reaching your desired goals, people point at you as the exception. They say - well , he probably makes good money, but he was just lucky, but... "but, but, but". There is always a butt standing in the way between people on the path of self-improvement and others that are walking backwards or just draw in the stream of life. Many of them buy lottery tickets, go to the casino, places where the odds are always fixed against you. Lazy brains. They don't understand trading, where odds are flexible and with vast ammount of experience, they can be turned in the traders favor. Probably more than 95% of wanna-be traders never have and never will come to the point when the odds work for them. It IS very hard... And with most of things in life - the harder it is, the more rewarding it could be after you manage to succeed.

Cat, when I decided I wanted to be a trader, I understood that my life as I knew it was over. My last ex wife walked away with everything. I gave it all up. My divorce took one day.

Most of the people involved with forex trading have higher than average level of intelligence. This is my opinion and I believe its 100% true. Incapable and dull people would not sustain their interest in trading long enough, because there is that information overload and the brain is used too much. So many things you do not know and most of them will remain that way forever. So, back to the traders iq - I believe that makes it even harder to succeed as a trader. Even from the smarter half of trading population, a really small fraction achieve long-term success (if we believe statistics nad nonsense posts on forums). This proves one thing mainly - that trading is definately not about brains. Well, at least not only! In fact, being the smart guy can play a really bad trick here.. Many smart people like to "be right" and to "know best". They dont like to second-guess decisions, they dont like to be taught how something should be done. They want to discover everything from scratch and become THE BEST. Those are developed personalities, many times with a really strong ego. Many of those types of characters will suffer. What I have learned is - in trading you don't have to discover anything. You are not a pioneer nor anything close to that. Being humble, grateful, respectful and realistic are all very great qualities to have. The market won't adapt ot us. We have to adapt to it. It is a journey to change yourself, and not always for the best. I learned so much about trading for my time here, but also lost a lot. A lof of time, a lot of friends, a lof of other opportunities. I do not regret a minute of the time invested. But everything comes at a great cost and at a slow pace (most of the time). I got into forex to learn something COOL thats gonna make me rich very fast so I can just waste my life doing something I enjoy. I do not believe in this anymore. Now I enjoy trading and I waste my time thinking about it and doing it There is something new to learn every day.