Years ago, I heard Mike Tyson say this, and it stuck with me because it has so many connections to trading with focus, discipline, and repetition.
Through repetition, we try to get both new and experienced traders to believe in the system. After seeing the performance of a trade more than 150 times in two months, it becomes clear that you stop talking to yourself about your trade in terms of fear. You already know that the system works, so the only thing that could go wrong is that little 6-inch universe inside your head. Now, accuracy has nothing to do with the system and everything to do with how well you, the trader, follow your rules over and over again.
Now, let's get back to my main point. We've seen how they work. We know that the system works. We have run a simulation of the system and found that it makes money. We're ready to trade real money that we've worked hard for and care about. So to speak, every dollar we trade is like a loaf of bread. Our hard-earned trading capital is now going through the UNEXPECTED equity draw-down that the system requires. Traders, we WILL lose trades. This is a fact that we must accept on every level. But keep in mind that contraction leads to growth. Your run-up will always follow your draw-down. The main thing is NOT TO MISS IT!
Now that the draw-down has happened, we've been "punched in the mouth," to put it bluntly. THIS is where all the magic happens. What are you going to do right now? Will you let fear and painful memories about the market determine how you trade? Or will you use your training, knowing that this change in the stock market is just another step on the way to making money consistently?
Will you keep making those next trades in the same way? Will you stop making trades on the spur of the moment? Will you stick to the trading plan that you've thought about and worked on for so long?
WRITE THIS DOWN and tape it to your monitor if you have a pen:
"IF I STICK TO MY PLAN AND DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN, THE MONEY WILL FOLLOW."
Don't forget that every trader gets hit in the mouth. The magic is in how you deal with this in your trading.
