An email I recently received from a coaching client:

Hi Andrew,
just a quick note to let you know I am doing well, thanks to you, trading less and making money. tweeting all my trades to make sure I don’t slip up again as this is very good. I don’t write about internal every day, but when I start to feel a bit off, I go back to writing straight away.
Thanks a lot for your help.
Have a great weekend.

This is a professional who left a trading desk to trade their own account. They had much success on the desk, but ran into some difficulty when they went out on their own. In the coaching we focused on two areas; 1) reducing the ‘giveback’ – entering sub-optimal trades after a good run, and 2) reducing impulse trades.

I don’t necessarily advocate tweeting one’s trades, there are pros and cons to that.  And that’s not what I wanted to write about in regard to this client. The main take-away from this blog post is that very often less is more.

No one likes to miss out, no one wants a good run to end, and no one is completely immune to the idea of getting our money back after a loss. Even a trader who made a lot of money on an institutional desk. So, what made the difference for this trader?

“I don’t write about internal every day, but when I start to feel a bit off, I go back to writing straight away.”
~ That’s what made the difference.

My client is referring to their own internal market – the personal needs and demands that we experience both consciously and subconsciously. The big lesson this client learned in coaching is that although we think we are responding to the market we see on the screen, in reality we are also responding to a personal internal ‘market’ where feelings become the fuel for our actions, often causing one to veer from our plan.

As my client learned more about their own unique inner market and learned to put their feelings into words they found that the pressure to not miss out, or make the money back after a loss was greatly reduced. By the fourth coaching session this trader was clearly on the right path with fewer trades and greater profits.

What’s even better is that the above email was sent to me almost 3 months after the coaching ended, showing that this trader continues on the right path.

With limited capacity to take on new clients I’m only accepting traders who are absolutely committed and a good fit. If you think you’re one, email me first, if you’re still serious, we will have a phone/Skype chat to see if it makes sense to work together. I prefer to choose my clients as much as they choose me. You’ll know why once we talk. My self-paced course is another option.