When in doubt, get out and get a good night’s sleep. I’ve done that lots of times and the next day everything was clear… While you are in , you can’t think. When you get out, then you can think clearly again.
Every trader at some point was or will be influenced by emotions to some degree or another. And the last thing you want to do when you’re in that state is to ‘force trade’.
This quote from Michael Marcus, a renowned commodities trader, is a great reminder to step back when your emotions are in the driver’s seat.
The market isn’t going anywhere… but your hard-earned money will if you stubbornly try to trade with a compromised mindset.
Reflections
The Importance Of Engagement
Casinos use a lot of tricks to separate gamblers from their money…
They don’t have clocks or windows, so you lose track of time…
They use bright lights and loud sounds to keep you excited and distracted… and they build the casino floor like a maze, which makes it hard for you to find the exits.
But perhaps their greatest trick is to make you think you’re winning money when you’re actually losing money.
Casinos design games that appease players with many small payouts. So players wind up feeding slot machines with money, thinking they’re close to the big win.
If slot machines or poker tables never paid out the occasional small wins, gamblers would quickly lose interest.
This way of “winning” – in which you have small wins more frequently – is quite frankly addictive. It makes the gamblers happy, it holds their attention… which is exactly why the casinos use this strategy in the first place.
They hand out those small frequent wins, and some occasional very rare jackpots to keep the engagement. To give people the illusion that they can win.
But over enough frequency, the house always wins because they make the rules.
Casinos decide the table limits, the payout limits, and within their premises, they only allow those games that are skewed in their favor, probabilistically speaking.
They’re in full control of their process. They know their odds for each games. And they play the long game. That’s where their edge resides.
Trading is very similar. A good trader, just like a casino, takes full control of the trading process.
1. A good trader knows his/her strategy.
2. They know their risk limits.
3. They also know their market
In essence, good traders push the gas pedal when it’s easy to make money and release it when it’s hard to make money.
Exactly like casinos!
I kid you not, a small trading business is exactly like a small casino! The underlying process leading to a positive outcome is pretty much the same!
If you really want to get rich as a trader, you have to act like a casino and do the exact opposite of what the gamblers do.
You must temper your desire to get rich fast and you must assume the role of the house. You have to focus on the process and show up for it.
And this is hard! I’m not gonna lie. It’s very hard. That’s why the average trader fails. Because they can’t follow that process and maintain a long-term vision.
But you’re subscribed to this newsletter, so you’re different. You understand something the average trader doesn’t.
Keep showing up, keep focusing on the process, keep placing one good trade at a time, maintain composure, and observe how success naturally emerges from this.