Pretty soon after starting trading, most people realise, ‘this ain’t quite the dream they were sold’.

There are many reasons for this. I could start a list, but pretty soon that list will become a book. But here is a thread explaining one of the key reasons: 1/9

This key reason stands out is because it’s one of the root causes of failure.

‘You are playing someone else’s playbook’.

This might not seem obvious at first. But each & every trader who has ever succeeded has a playbook which they have built, evolved, constructed. 2/9

That playbook was unique to them, to their personality, their life experiences, their beliefs.

Think of it like a suit. That suit needs to fit you perfectly. It needs to be snug, move with your movement, give you freedom to run, walk, move your arms, not get in your way. 3/9

When you take a system you are taking someone else’s suit, designed & cut for them.

The system may work for a while, but no system works forever, when it stops, then what?

That’s assuming it ever worked. If I had an amazing system, I’d never sell it. 4/9

Some systems are also past their sell-by date. They worked in one type of condition for one person, but weren’t durable or had longevity.

Some were not even tested in real market conditions. They are purely theoretical.

5/9

If you haven’t developed the capability to adapt a system to you, or to develop your own, you are in trouble. The suit will be in shreds & you won’t have another one.

I see this so often. And often by then the trader has burned through their money.
6/9

Another issue is you don’t implicitly trust the system. This lack of trust is often unconscious. But now you are playing a system you don’t feel in synch with. So you hesitate, override, go off-piste.

This is a sign you need to develop/evolve your own system/playbook.

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But how long will that take? How do you even know if you are doing it right? How long can you last whilst doing so?

This is part of the challenge of trading. Dalio, Tudor-Jones, Jim Simons, etc, all went through that journey. 8/9

Trading is a game, and you need to own how you play that game. Everyone who ever succeeded did so because ultimately they owned their game, and thus trusted themselves when playing it.

If you don’t own it, who will be owned by it. - It’s that simple? 9/9