Bob puts many hours into his trading in more ways than one.  He studies the charts. He has spread sheets with inter-market correlations and spread sheets with his own trading stats. He’s glued to the screen during market hours. He’s very busy.

Bob is a hard worker; working hard is second nature to him.  He worked hard to get into the right college, earned a degree in engineering, graduated near the top of his class at a prestigious university. He was lucky when he entered the workforce because at the time, the economy was rolling along and recruiters were seeking people just like Bob.

The freedom to be his own boss is what brought Bob into trading. Master of his own destiny. 

With all his hard work, Bob is still about break even as a trader. What Bob doesn’t realize is that the skills that made him a good engineer are not the same skills that will make him a good trader.  Yes, there is a certain amount of study involved, but in the final analysis, for a trader, it’s about how you respond to discomfort. Not how much you study the charts, not how many spreadsheets you have, etc.

Bob did well on a simulator, but with cash he succumbs to the anxiety of interacting with a market that will always show some noise, some ambiguity.

Bob realizes that his hesitation to enter when he sees his signal and the inability to hold a winning trade are preventing him from succeeding.

Like many perfectionists, Bob is getting in his own way. And like many perfectionists, interacting with something as messy as the market brings up a lot of anxiety.  But instead of dealing with the issue, Bob spends more time searching for the answer in the charts, and in the spreadsheets etc.

Deep down, Bob knows the solution to his problem is within him, not in the charts.  But by analyzing the external data (everything outside him) it keeps him busy.  That’s what many perfectionists do; perfectionists stay busy. 

The solution is to analyze the internal data (what’s inside).  It’s the internal data that causes you to hesitate, bail out of winning trades too early, ignore your stop, etc. It’s one thing to study the factors that cause the market to move, but it is more important to know what causes you to move. It’s the internal data…the emotions of fear, anxiety, the things that make you uncomfortable, that’s important and must be dealt with.

Your P&L is a result of your actions, not how well how analyze charts. Your actions, how you execute and manage your trades is not a function of analyzing the external data; your P&L is really more a matter of how well you manage yourself.

If you recognize that you have issues with perfectionism and want to learn how to analyze the internal data and control your actions so you can follow your plan, my self-paced Advanced Course is designed for you.  If you are highly motivated, contact Andrew to discuss one-on-one coaching. At a minimum, its a no-brainer to sign up for my free email newsletter that gives you professional trading psychology tips.