Iron Sharpens Iron
Trading can sometimes feel like you're alone in it.
A solitary pursuit.
Usually the people around us doesn't have any idea about trading. Our family may have raise an eyebrow. Our friends may have hated us for making a pass on night outs and for us not hanging out anymore.
Our red port may have discouraged us to carry on.
It was screaming,
"You're no good at this. Just give up and get back to what you are used to doing. Your day job. That puts food on the table".
It felt like the universe doesn't want me to be on this pursuit.
Seems like doors are closing on me.
But it didn't stop me.
I continued on my trading journey after a 2-week time-off from work and spending the New Year holiday with the family. I temporarily left my wife and my preschooler back home and went back alone in my country of work to focus on my learning. The time originally intended for the masterclass is now an opportunity to learn and focus on mastering a system on my own. Got to make this count. Two months away from them now and I already miss them. Especially my little boy. Whom I am missing moments and milestones of his own journey. Learning new words. Calling people's names. And some more. But I got to endure. For what I am doing now is for us to be together in the future and not worry about missing dinners. Missing school plays. Recitals. Birthdays. Anniversaries. For they are my biggest WHY.
I've got the time. I've got my system. But I've got no one to review them. If I'm going to execute and journal them, how would I quantify and weight my results? Sure I can review my own results. But it is just too easy to lie or fool myself that "I won't do this and that next time." It is almost impossible to succeed in trading if I'll be just lying to myself. It can be easy to let procrastination get the better of me. Put important task off for days, weeks or even months. But when I have to be accountable, I am much more likely to finish the task and move forward with my commitments. I need someone else to directly point out my mistakes. I need someone else to commend me for my good trades. I need someone with the same goal as me.
So after the 'system task' was done late last year, this guy advised me to get an accountability partner instead of looking for a mentor. I didn't know what an accountability partner was back then. So I tried to google it and read about it more. The following lines are some helpful details of what an accountability partner should be - An accountability partner can be someone more experienced than you. Someone senior. Someone you look up to and respect. Someone you don't want to disappoint. An accountability partner should be able to give you very direct feedback about your issues. An accountability partner keeps you on track and moving forward in all aspects of your development. This person can also be your source of encouragement when you're feeling down. They should be able to help you recognize your strengths and weaknesses. For weaknesses, they can help you pinpoint mistakes. Helps you isolate areas for improvement in your trading process. An accountability partner should help you get from where you are to where you want to be.
At first I wasn't really looking. Maybe because I was busy with the holiday season back then. But when I got back from the holidays, I started giving it an effort. I managed to convince one person in the same city as me to be my accountability partner. Let's call him Red. The first two weekly sessions were good. I'll send him my weekly analysis of my trades with my summary, observations and proposed fix for my issues. Then we discuss the major things that needs improvement. It is more like a creative review. |My weekly output is as important as Red's weekly input. As we won't have anything to discuss if I don't do my weekly reviews.
Everything is going well until my accountability partner had to go on leave on the last week of February as he will be spending his one month vacation back home in the Philippines. But he still offered me to send my weekly reports. But as courtesy to a fellow overseas worker, I don't want to bog him with tasks and just let him enjoy his holiday. So I went looking for a substitute for him while he's away. I found my substitute accountability partner and he was more than willing to be one. Let's call him Mane. He's a bit busy at work lately and I understand. But he managed to make it up by reminding me of one important thing about this journey -What's the real objective of all this virtual/paper trading?
I am five weeks into virtual trading UTAH (TF with BO entry). I've taken 11 trades of which all are cut losses. And the only open position that I have is losing steam and is going back down to my AEP. In which case, I'm ready to sell it at a break even price. I told Mane last night that I was feeling a slight frustration because of the cut-loss streak. He somehow managed to remind me of what's the real purpose of all this paper trading. It is not just about winning or growing your money capital. trading is also about building your emotional capital. It is also about the intangible traits and character that you develop along the way.
A solitary pursuit.
Usually the people around us doesn't have any idea about trading. Our family may have raise an eyebrow. Our friends may have hated us for making a pass on night outs and for us not hanging out anymore.
Our red port may have discouraged us to carry on.
It was screaming,
"You're no good at this. Just give up and get back to what you are used to doing. Your day job. That puts food on the table".
It felt like the universe doesn't want me to be on this pursuit.
Seems like doors are closing on me.
But it didn't stop me.
I continued on my trading journey after a 2-week time-off from work and spending the New Year holiday with the family. I temporarily left my wife and my preschooler back home and went back alone in my country of work to focus on my learning. The time originally intended for the masterclass is now an opportunity to learn and focus on mastering a system on my own. Got to make this count. Two months away from them now and I already miss them. Especially my little boy. Whom I am missing moments and milestones of his own journey. Learning new words. Calling people's names. And some more. But I got to endure. For what I am doing now is for us to be together in the future and not worry about missing dinners. Missing school plays. Recitals. Birthdays. Anniversaries. For they are my biggest WHY.
I've got the time. I've got my system. But I've got no one to review them. If I'm going to execute and journal them, how would I quantify and weight my results? Sure I can review my own results. But it is just too easy to lie or fool myself that "I won't do this and that next time." It is almost impossible to succeed in trading if I'll be just lying to myself. It can be easy to let procrastination get the better of me. Put important task off for days, weeks or even months. But when I have to be accountable, I am much more likely to finish the task and move forward with my commitments. I need someone else to directly point out my mistakes. I need someone else to commend me for my good trades. I need someone with the same goal as me.
So after the 'system task' was done late last year, this guy advised me to get an accountability partner instead of looking for a mentor. I didn't know what an accountability partner was back then. So I tried to google it and read about it more. The following lines are some helpful details of what an accountability partner should be - An accountability partner can be someone more experienced than you. Someone senior. Someone you look up to and respect. Someone you don't want to disappoint. An accountability partner should be able to give you very direct feedback about your issues. An accountability partner keeps you on track and moving forward in all aspects of your development. This person can also be your source of encouragement when you're feeling down. They should be able to help you recognize your strengths and weaknesses. For weaknesses, they can help you pinpoint mistakes. Helps you isolate areas for improvement in your trading process. An accountability partner should help you get from where you are to where you want to be.
At first I wasn't really looking. Maybe because I was busy with the holiday season back then. But when I got back from the holidays, I started giving it an effort. I managed to convince one person in the same city as me to be my accountability partner. Let's call him Red. The first two weekly sessions were good. I'll send him my weekly analysis of my trades with my summary, observations and proposed fix for my issues. Then we discuss the major things that needs improvement. It is more like a creative review. |My weekly output is as important as Red's weekly input. As we won't have anything to discuss if I don't do my weekly reviews.
Everything is going well until my accountability partner had to go on leave on the last week of February as he will be spending his one month vacation back home in the Philippines. But he still offered me to send my weekly reports. But as courtesy to a fellow overseas worker, I don't want to bog him with tasks and just let him enjoy his holiday. So I went looking for a substitute for him while he's away. I found my substitute accountability partner and he was more than willing to be one. Let's call him Mane. He's a bit busy at work lately and I understand. But he managed to make it up by reminding me of one important thing about this journey -What's the real objective of all this virtual/paper trading?
I am five weeks into virtual trading UTAH (TF with BO entry). I've taken 11 trades of which all are cut losses. And the only open position that I have is losing steam and is going back down to my AEP. In which case, I'm ready to sell it at a break even price. I told Mane last night that I was feeling a slight frustration because of the cut-loss streak. He somehow managed to remind me of what's the real purpose of all this paper trading. It is not just about winning or growing your money capital. trading is also about building your emotional capital. It is also about the intangible traits and character that you develop along the way.
Look back to move forward.
People often look at progress by anticipating results. "I'm going to get better if I do this... if I do that". We set goals. We project an image of what do we want us to be when we achieve those goals. And somehow, by doing that, we are trying to predict the future. But progress are also results of our actions. And results from actions can only be measured when they are already done. So instead of focusing only on what you want to happen, measure your progress by also analyzing what already happened. Look into your journal. Get one if you haven't got one yet. Record your trades. Examine your trades after. Which setup works best for you? Are you exiting trades early? What might be the reason? Do you hold on to losing trades? How often do you follow your plan? For the ones you followed, have you been profitable? What measures you could've done to minimize loss or maximize profits? - Do these daily/weekly/monthly/yearly reviews of your journal with your accountability partner and choose one thing to work on. One small task at a time. And get a little bit better every time.
Constant improvement.
People often look at progress by anticipating results. "I'm going to get better if I do this... if I do that". We set goals. We project an image of what do we want us to be when we achieve those goals. And somehow, by doing that, we are trying to predict the future. But progress are also results of our actions. And results from actions can only be measured when they are already done. So instead of focusing only on what you want to happen, measure your progress by also analyzing what already happened. Look into your journal. Get one if you haven't got one yet. Record your trades. Examine your trades after. Which setup works best for you? Are you exiting trades early? What might be the reason? Do you hold on to losing trades? How often do you follow your plan? For the ones you followed, have you been profitable? What measures you could've done to minimize loss or maximize profits? - Do these daily/weekly/monthly/yearly reviews of your journal with your accountability partner and choose one thing to work on. One small task at a time. And get a little bit better every time.
Constant improvement.
It is about your dedication to making small changes and improvements every day. It breaks down your big goals into smaller goals that are easier to achieve. This small changes in yourself is expected to add up into something significant to help you in achieving your bigger and grander goals. Those small decisions you make seems unnoticeable at first and don't make much difference but they should add up in time if your consistently making those small changes. Then eventually they'll be big enough for you to notice the difference they make to your trading or to your life in general
Do more of the right things.
Sometimes we overthink our analysis by trying to find out what you can add to your strategy to make it better. But there are times that all we have to do is look on current stats and ideas and find out what already works. Having an accountability partner helps you identify your strengths. You just have to do your part and do more of what already works.
Do less of the wrong things.
In some cases, improvement isn't all about doing things right, but also about doing fewer things wrong. Improvement is not just about doing more but can also be done by subtraction. You can focus on doing less of what doesn't work. Minimizing mistakes. Reducing complexity. Stripping away the clutter. Your accountability partner should be there to help you work on your issues and avoid those mistakes that are slowing you down.
Do more of the right things.
Sometimes we overthink our analysis by trying to find out what you can add to your strategy to make it better. But there are times that all we have to do is look on current stats and ideas and find out what already works. Having an accountability partner helps you identify your strengths. You just have to do your part and do more of what already works.
Do less of the wrong things.
In some cases, improvement isn't all about doing things right, but also about doing fewer things wrong. Improvement is not just about doing more but can also be done by subtraction. You can focus on doing less of what doesn't work. Minimizing mistakes. Reducing complexity. Stripping away the clutter. Your accountability partner should be there to help you work on your issues and avoid those mistakes that are slowing you down.
I started virtual trading UTAH with the set of rules from my back testing. But since then a number of small changes have been made. I've been changing some rules and adding more rules to refine my system every week. One change at a time. And these changes are made not just because I wanted to but because they are what my journal results is saying.
Small improvements are better than no improvement at all. There might have been bumps on the road. But it doesn't mean that I'm going to stop finding the right door for me. I'm going to get better. I'm going to make this time count. Because for my door to open, I have to have the strength required to open it. No one's going to open my door for me. I have to chase it. Be ready for it. And it is always better to be ready if ever an opportunity presents itself. Rather than be presented with an opportunity and not be ready for what's on the other side. So embrace your strengths and work on your weaknesses. Being honest and transparent in your trading journey is an important factor on winning over your mental barriers that are holding you back.
Your accountability partner can help you get from where you are to where you want to be.
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