Stop Monkeying Around
"Enough of this miserable, whining life. Stop monkeying around! Why are you troubled? What's new here? What's so confounding? The one responsible? Take a good look. Or just the matter itself? Then look at that. There's nothing else to look at. And as far as the gods go, by now you could try being more straightforward and kind. It's the same, whether you've examined these things for a hundred years, or only three."
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Today's meditation is a reminder to take responsibility and as we develop (as traders in our case) self-respect will ensue.
So put quite simply, if you stick to the rules/criteria for your strategies 100% of the time with no exceptions, you are taking responsibility for each and every trade and managing them all fully to completion.
If you practice day in and day out, getting to know your strategies inside out and back to front, you will become confident and consistent. You will be taking your profits when trades go as expected and taking the occasional controlled loss when trades don't go your way; early enough at your pre-agreed exit point, to protect your bank.
Trading isn't a get rich quick, overnight success story! You have to be patient and develop over a period of time and the more you develop, the more you will improve and will confidently make the right decisions, swiftly and decisively.
You will develop a pride and confidence in yourself and you will also see an improvement in your long term trading results.
This is something that you can aspire to, as long as you stick to the plan and to your rules 100% of the time.
It is a long road on your trading journey to success; but you've got this. You can do it!