Once Is Enough, Once Is Forever
"A good isn't increased by the addition of time, but if one is wise for even a moment, they will be no less happy than the person who exercises virtue for all time and happily passes their life in it."
—CHRYSIPPUS QUOTED BY PLUTARCH IN MORALIA: "AGAINST THE STOICS ON COMMON CONCEPTIONS," 1062 (LOEB, P. 682)
Another deep and interesting meditation today.
As traders we train our brain to avoid getting carried away by a few successful trades, just as we don't get upset when the inevitable trade that goes against us comes along. Yes you will develop consistency and confidence from a few successful trades, but you mustn't let that develop cockiness or over-confidence, because this can lead to complacency as you start expecting trades to go your way and you become less focused on the job in hand, if a trade starts to go against you! To avoid this happening you need to be fully focused with zero distractions and "in the zone" with a totally neutral opinion, ready to react to what you are seeing in a heartbeat!
If we can control our excitement when we have winning trades and our upset or anger, when trades go against us, we are in the correct trading mindset to continue doing what we are doing, repetitively, day in and day out.
Instead of getting addicted to the excitement of winning, get addicted to practising doing the same thing, rinse and repeat every day. Execute the trades that fully meet the rules/criteria for your strategies and manage every one of them fully, to completion.
Become addicted to the process, rather than the winning, because if you stick to the process and follow your rules, your winning trades will far outweigh the occasional one that goes against you. This means that you will be profitable long term, which is your aim of course.
So when you have winning trades, recognise and enjoy the moment, but remember, we don't know how long these moments will last, so we have to be fully focused again to concentrate on the next trade and the next trade and so on.
Stay humble and grateful for what you take from the markets and always be ready for when the markets bite back; because they will and you have to be fully prepared for when this happens, to stay in control. With a patient and disciplined mindset, you've got this!