Trading Mistakes.

The Crosshairs Trader Blog posted an interview with Dr. Doug Hircshhorn, author of 8 Ways to Great: Peak Performance on the Job and in Your Life.

“Now, the biggest mistake I see people make when setting goals for their trading is that they set money-oriented goals. And that’s a big mistake because for a goal, to be set up for success, it has to be entirely in your control. Making and losing money are not in the trader’s control. If it were, then you could just say, I want to make a million dollars this year, and you would be making a million dollars this year.

What is in a trader’s control, is the quality of trades they make or the work that they do beforehand. Just like in baseball, a batter only has control over the pitches that he chooses to swing at. Once he hits the ball, once the trader makes the trade, it is out of that person’s control. It goes into the environment, there’s physics that attack it, there are players out in the field that decide whether the ball lands safety and the hitter gets on base.

In the trading world, once you push the button, the world, the economy, the markets, decide whether you are going to get paid for that trade or not get paid for that trade. Then it comes back to you and you get a chance to make another decision (called managing the risk of the trade). You get to decide whether you want to add to that position or take the risk off, but your job as a trader is not to determine whether you make money or lose money.

Your job as a trader is only to make high-quality trades every single time. You have faith that if you consistently do the right thing, then over time you will make money and have a successful career in trading.”