Don't Go Expecting Perfection
"That cucumber is bitter, so toss it out! There are thorns on the path, then keep away! Enough said. Why ponder the existence of nuisance? Such thinking would make you a laughing-stock to the true student of Nature, just as a carpenter or cobbler would laugh if you pointed out the sawdust and chips on the floors of their shops. Yet while those shopkeepers have dustbins for disposal, Nature has no need of them."
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
As we move into month 8 of my daily journals we are reminded not to let petty annoyances and minor obstacles get in the way of the important job that we have to do in every day life.
The exact same can be said, when we are trading.
We know that not every trade will go our way, but because of the historical stats/data that we have available to us, we know that our trades will be successful many more times than when they will go against us. It is our job as traders to make sure that we cut our losses at our pre-agreed exit point, to protect our bank by managing those losses. With the successful trades far outweighing the occasional controlled losses, this means that we will be profitable over a period of time, as long as we stick to the rules/criteria for our strategies, 100% of the time; with no exceptions whatsoever!
The majority of our trades will go perfectly well, as planned and we can take our targeted profit and move on to the next opportunity. The petty annoyances and minor obstacles, when a trade isn't going our way, should be just that; minor! When they are controlled because we have acted swiftly and decisively, in a heartbeat, they do not become an unmanageable situation, where we are putting our trading bank at risk. This means we are able to stay in the game for the next battle and for the long haul of course, ensuring that our bank is protected and we are consistently profitable long term.
Targeted profits and controlled losses are all part of our trading journey. So as the title of today's meditation says; "Don't go expecting perfection;" because in trading and in every day life, we won't find perfection all of the time.