When I was coming up through the ranks and trying to establish myself as an independent trader, I heard a mountain of advice directed to newer traders. Most of it was cataloged away in my mind with a “that sounds logical” footnote, but the problem with getting too much advice when you’re a n00b is that you don’t really have the experience to give it context. 
 
And I would find that all that advice really was correct, if I had stopped to apply it. I suppose some things are better off learned experientially instead of by reading them. 
 
So after all this time, what advice would I want to pass along to others that were coming up through the ranks, as I did? Let me boil it down to the top three: 

1. Markets Are Always Changing - Financial markets will rarely stay in a steady state for very long. Once you identify what’s currently happening and what strategies will work to consistently profit from the current behavior, it’s only a matter of time before the market will change its stripes again and act differently. This is probably the biggest frustration to retail traders out there, since it takes time to learn to adapt and take advantage of the current market character. 
   
2. When Everything’s Going REALLY Well, Beware - This is closely related to number one. When you feel unbeatable, you’re about to be brought back to Earth when the market changes character and the strategy that couldn’t lose, can now barely get out of its own way. Compounding this situation is the fact that you’ve probably gone “all-in” on the working strategy with your capital, and now the losses are quite painful. It takes a lot of discipline and experience to know when to lighten up your asset load when everything’s going really well. Most do the opposite. 
3. Never, Ever Give Up - it’s helpful to have a really clear, strong vision of where you ultimately want to go, otherwise you’ll be tempted to give up along the way when you hit some real roadblocks. And everyone does, on a consistent basis. In fact, the only reason why I’m still doing this after twenty years is because I’ve gotten good at troubleshooting the root cause of any problems, and fixing them, while continuing to move forward. If you lack the vision, if you lack persistence, there are just too many obstacles that can trip you up and send you packing. The good news is that just about anyone can tackle this if you have the determination and drive. As Brett Steenbarger says, “find the rage to master.”
   

Remember, trading is a relatively simple process, but we make it hard on ourselves because we try to rationalize our actions with emotions. The best thing you can to to find this is to choose ONE TRADE and learn to master it. Most of us start by attempting too many things, so we never really find our niche. Believe me, you must learn to specialize in one thing.

I’m sure that I have many more lessons that I’ve yet to encounter, but these are my top three for today! . 

In your corner……..Doc Severson
 
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Ever been in a tough spot in the market, and the pain is so bad that you just want to pull the plug to make the pain go away? You can literally live and die with each tick in the market, depending on which way it goes. 
 
And at the end of the trade, when you’re finally out of it and can think straight…did you notice that literally NOTHING that you did during that bout of anxiety…had anything to do with where the price ended up? 
 
There is a quote that says: 
 
“If you are depressed you are living in the past. 
 
If you are anxious you are living in the future. 
 
If you are at peace, you are living in the present.” 
 
Most of us get anxious with price movements because they remind us of some scar that the Market left in our soul at some point in the past. But guess what? The market has no memory. Every moment in the market is unique, to quote Mark Douglas. 
 
This is why I think it’s important to acknowledge that we have zero predictive power as a human being. We literally cannot predict the future. What you CAN do, however, that will immediately reduce your stress during these situations…is to MAP OUT EXACTLY WHAT YOUR FUTURE ACTIONS WILL BE. 
 
If the price goes up later today, what will you do? 
 
If the price stays in this same range, what will you do? 
 
If the price drops later today, what will you do? 
 
Those are actions that we have CONTROL over. 
 
The market? Not so much. 
 
Try living in the present while you trade. It’s much easier and you’ll live longer. 
 
In your corner……..Doc Severson

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