The best predictor of trading success is working at it daily for a very long time. If you slog away at it over the course of years you will be successful. This isn't just a matter of time. There must be some real effort expended on improving on a regular basis over the long term. If you think and grow then your daily efforts will benefit you much like compound interest benefits investors over the long term.
I am sometimes asked what was the best trade I ever made. I honestly don't know. I have had some good ones that standout and many very poor ones that were even more memorable, but they were all more a matter of luck rather than skill or lack thereof. I don't think about hitting home runs. I focus on producing a steady diet of good trades and then protecting my capital when the market becomes more difficult.
In a difficult market, like we have now, losses are unavoidable but they never concern me much because I know I will soon be able to go back to work and build my account back up to new highs. It has happened many times over the years and every time I have made my account back to a new high faster than I thought.
The key to doing this is to be aggressive in cutting positions when they are acting poorly. The most unproductive thing you can do as a trader is make up losses, so you always want to focus on keeping your accounts as close to highs as possible. If you combine that with persistently looking for new trades on a daily basis you will see your accounts grow nicely.
Calling trading a daily grind is a bit misleading. It is quite invigorating and exciting to know that you will find new opportunities to make money every day if you stay focused and work at it. I never am depressed very much by poor market action because I know that it always results in new opportunities.
One of the greatest things about trading is that if you have capital there will be opportunities. Unlike other business endeavors, you do not need to look for customers to buy your product or services. The source of profits is readily available. All you have to do is study the charts and the news and have a strategy.
Traders too often focus on making a killing with a single great trade. It is the Warren Buffett mentality which believes the road to riches is to have a few quality stocks and then reap the rewards. That doesn't work in trading. What works in trading is finding new opportunities every day and then trading them for quick gains. A diet of singles and doubles will produce far more winnings that a lucky home run.
Trading is one of the best business opportunities there is but success is a function of working at it every day over the long term. If you do that and are always looking to learn and improve you will do extremely well.
