It’s really important to have realistic expectations if you want to put yourself in a condition to succeed.
Many can talk the talk but few can translate it into a decent track-record.
Ultimately, leverage kills. Once you understand and control that, you can get away with a lot and still be around to fight another day.
What we are trying to do is simple but definitely not easy. You need a mechanical process and a lot of discipline.
Make sure you have a very good understanding of bet size and how that affects the translation of your edge.
Remember that if you get your bet size wrong, you could end up with a negative P&L even with a guaranteed mathematical edge.
In order to really make a step-change in your trading journey you have to make a conscious decision to be honest with your progress and accept full accountability for your actions.
Fear, indecision, uncertainty and related emotions all tend to be linked to a lack of domain knowledge coupled with unrealistic expectations.
The more you work on your overall domain knowledge, the less room there is for these emotions to get in the way of you executing the task at hand.
As hard as it may be for most to fully grasp, remember that you don’t know what you don’t know. Keep an open mind and always be ready to question your assumptions.
You should never be in a position where the outcome of one single trade could change your life; neither for the good, nor for the bad. Once you really internalize this – and it’s a lot harder to do than it may seem – then you are ready to start working on consistency and longevity in a professional manner.
Trading is an extremely hard way to make a living. Don’t let anyone tell you it can’t be done but equally, don’t let anyone give you the false impression that it is easy, that there are shortcuts or magical formulas.
