Few people have emailed me about ‘being impatient’ in executing their trades (both entry and exit) and I have already written a blogpost on patience few weeks ago. Here it is..
Nevertheless, let me put some more thoughts to drive that point home again. As St. Augustine once quoted – “Patience is the companion of wisdom,” and if he lived in our era and had to say it about trading, he could have easily gone on to say that patience is a virtue that should never be disregarded when trading, nor ignored when learning how to trade. Proper patience is essential throughout the life-cycle of any given trade, and is of acute importance when learning and practicing how to trade. Unfortunately, patience is one of the most challenging skills to develop as a trader.
Deliberate practice is the key
In the book ‘Talent Is Overrated’ (I highly recommend this book, if you haven’t read it), Colvin cites research presenting that only through 10,000 hours of practice can world class performance be accomplished. He is not talking about ‘being there’ kind of practice but ‘Deliberate practice’.
Deliberate practice stresses repetition, but also stresses self-awareness and the ability to analyze how we are performing and acclimatizing accordingly. It is a crucial stage in the development of a trader because it is at this time when both good and bad habits are formed. If a new trader is not patient and hurries through the process, because of their over-enthusiasm or need to make money, the chance for developing improper skills is amplified, and the odds are the trader will become overly frustrated and either quit or attempt to accelerate their learning curve even faster.
Now, the question lingers in our mind – why are we impatient? Impatience usually stems from the underlying belief to prove oneself. If we have an underlying belief to “prove our worth”, we may find ourselves hastening through things, eager to accomplish things – in myriad number of ways to prove our worth. The “need to prove oneself” belief may be formed by any number of life experiences, where we may have felt inadequate, incompetent, defenseless, stranded or unappreciated.
Patience is vital to consistent success in trading because it allows us to be selective in our trading decisions. The experienced trader will not be anxious to make a trade, but will patiently wait until a setup with a high probability of success is exhibited. Once in the trade, a patient trader will give the position time to progress and will not get out of the trade too early, but will exit the trade according to a pre-defined/ ‘well thought-out’ plan. And the patient trader will not have to be concerned with over trading as well.
Creating the ‘patient identity’
Many of us have the problem of not waiting patiently for the setup to unfold. So, we basically muscle into the trade, see it collapse (or recover after our exit) and wonder what just happened. It is basically our survival instincts overriding rational mind to create a thought process incapable of trading effectively. Research unequivocally shows that our brain is not equipped to deal with uncertainty (the basic essence of trading).
Many a times, traders take the wrong approach of using will power to become a patient trader but come out empty-handed. One can talk to himself (self-talk) that ‘I am a patient trader..I am a patient trader’ but the same mistakes seem to crop up in frequent intervals. One can also put sticky-notes on the screen but ultimately one will become a patient trader only when they experience it themselves. Usually, it means that we practice/cultivate patience in our non-trading life as well. Forcibly putting ourselves in situations that require a person to exhibit patience. One can start a garden (will teach you lot of patience), teach physics (or some other subject) to their kids, babysit a toddler (lot of patience is required) or tutor a special child (great cause too).
By doing the activities that require patience, we create that ‘patient identity’ within ourselves and that will nicely manifest in the market. We will never be organized/disciplined in trading if we are not disciplined (one common example is lack of discipline in working out – if we are not disciplined in life-enhancing activity like hitting the gym, then trading will be no exception) in our daily lives. Everything in life, approached properly, is an opportunity to exercise the capacities we most require in our trading. I always say to my fellow traders that ‘becoming a better trader is a path to becoming a better person’
Final thoughts
As someone said – “People who do the common things in this life uncommonly well will command the attention of the world”. Trading is not rocket science – it is more of an art. It is the pint-size things we do well when trading and learning how to trade, that make the difference between success and failure. Novice traders must always be prepared to put in the practice needed if they want to achieve proficiency, and experienced traders must continue to exercise their skills if they want to achieve greatness. And that ‘elusive’ patience might be the missing link.
Hope this post resonates with some of your experience/thoughts and if it does, I would like to hear it !!