All I Need!

The ‘secret!’ That elusive ‘no losses system’ that will guarantee success/ Most newbies spend a lifetime seeking but not finding success.  Do you kno why? Because, even if such a system existed,  it would not be enough to secure success.

Let me give you a real-life example. I’m beta testing (real-time, with money) a system with the help of some friends.

If you had a system with a Reward: Risk of 8.5:1 with a win rate of 67%, do you think you could be consistently profitable? Maybe.

To secure success, you’d first have to execute the rules. And that may not be as easy as it sounds. For example, one of the system setups is trading the FOMC announcement. One of the rules is ‘long only, don’t go short’. Simple enough, right? Yet some of the testers went short. Another rule is ‘exit no later than 1:55 (EST)’. Again, some testers hung on past the deadline.

You see. our actions tend to be governed by a  brain eons old whose sole purpose was our survival.  And despite the changes from the stone-age days, we are still hard-wired with stone-age programs:

• The impulse to fight, flight or freeze when threatened with perceived danger (3Fs).
• The need to fall back on heuristics when the 3Fs threaten.
• The instinctive emotional response to decide and then use logic to rationalize.

The other sneaky thing about our brain is it’s excellent at providing oh so reasonable sounding ‘reasons’ for repetitive, goal-destroying behaviour. One of the best bits of advice I have ever received:

‘If you aren’t achieving your goals, look at the pattern of behaviour – focus on that and change it!”

For example:

My comment to one of the beta-testers:

“A heads up that you are not applying yourself enough to ensure success”

His reply:

“struggling to find the right balance between my work commitments, learning the system, applying the learning and time zones..“

translate that to mean “I don’t have the time”. 

“I don’t have the time” is the oldest of all excuses. If you want it badly enough, you’ll find the time. If you really don’t have the time to learn, then you don’t have the time to trade.

Over to folks…..if you aren’t succeeding, what will you change so as to become successful.