Reboot The Real Work
"I am your teacher and you are learning in my school. My aim is to bring you to completion, unhindered, free from compulsive behavior, unrestrained, without shame, free, flourishing, and happy, looking to God in things great and small — your aim is to learn and diligently practice all these things. Why then don't you complete the work, if you have the right aim and I have both the right aim and right preparation? What is missing? . . . The work is quite feasible, and is the only thing in our power. . . . Let go of the past. We must only begin. Believe me and you will see."
— Epictetus, Discourses
I am a great believer in the saying "You reap what you sow."
In trading, if you work hard and put the time in to develop a strategy, you will get rewarded. You must however work on that strategy day in day out, so you know it inside out and you know what to do in a heartbeat, if things aren't going to plan! There are no short cuts as lazy trading will get punished. We must always remember that the market is unforgiving, so we have to be switched on and ready to act when we are exposed in a trade, to be able to protect our bank swiftly and without hesitation. We can't be frightened or intimidated, because fear of losing will soon become a massive stumbling block! If you are scared to enter a trade, then it may be that your stakes are too high. Lower your stakes while you gain confidence in executing your strategy and always have in mind your exit point. Remember that the process and the execution of your trades will make all the difference. Then your stakes can grow as your confidence grows. If you can be consistent in your process by sticking to the rules/criteria for your strategy 100% and executing your trades accordingly, to what you are seeing and not what you hope to see; the money will follow. So "reboot the real work." Don't be intimidated or put off by any outside noise or distractions and concentrate solely on your strategies and get stuck in, to become the best that you can be! This is what you should be striving for and what you can achieve with patience, discipline and the correct mindset.