Pain of Discipline

The quote in the blog today is one of my most cherished.  I actually have a copy in bold letters in my office to remind me everyday that the pain of regret, if I do something outwith my system, is way more severe than dealing with the pain of discipline of just following a tested system.

Anyone that has ever attended a talk or a seminar with me will have heard me say “Don’t think, don’t think, don’t think”  which also brings home the idea that thinking outwith a proven system can cause you to suffer regret or what if’s…

The truth is, in the moment, when I am in a trade, my mind is talking to me all the time telling me the various actions I could take, constantly calculating my options;

“should I exit here”

“risk reward has changed, I should take my profit”

“last 3 trades took a big portion of my profit from me, so I should exit now”

All these conversation go on in my head most days I am in a trade!  But, I have my Jim Rohn quote in front of me as my overriding guide.  When I read it, it stop my minds conversation in its track.  It stops the confusion and the calculating, it just simply states what my job actually is, to just follow the system.

I know, and I am sure you can relate, my mind is just playing tricks on me and it cannot be trusted in the heat of battle.  The only thing that can be trusted and relied upon is a 10 year backtest with positive expectancy in metrics like low drawdown, high net profit, acceptable average trade values and % wins v losses, letting me know that I am on a direct course to continued wealth.  So, the only reason and the only way I may fail is to deviate from the system.

Discipline is the only way to be successful in trading.  So, I urge anyone that reads this to read Jim’s prophetic words and act on them every single day in every single trade, whether its following my trades, someone else’s or your own methodology.  As you can only blame yourself not the system when you screw up, and that does weigh heavier than the pain of discipline, believe me, I have too many of those T-shirts over my trading career!!

I mention this today as I was thinking about the meandering the current trade is doing.  It’s difficult to have the discipline to not just take the profit, but it’s worse when you get to regret not taking a bigger winner.  And taking big wins is what trend trading is all about.  So I will continue to be patient and trust the system and understand that the pain of that discipline is less of a burden that the pain of regret…

Good trading,

John