Some thoughts about freedom and trading on "Independence" day.
Each year I listen to a recitation of the declaration of Independence and I reflect on the war for independence. Not just the war itself, but the struggle and grappling by the colonists to pursue what they believed "independence" offered them.
Some of it was no doubt just as they expected (freedom to chart their own course as a nation), and some was not (you mean it's all on us now?).
There is a correlation to trading in this that is helpful to consider as you chart your path forward with markets....seeking the "freedom" that trading offers. In each stage that you become more independent, there will be new opportunities and there will also be new challenges.
One of the first transitions toward "freedom" in trading is when you make the transition from order-filler to trader.
When I started trading, I followed someone else's trades. I wasn't a trader. I was an order-filler. While This offered opportunity for new income, it also presented challenges.
For example, I had no idea how to find the next idea and more importantly, I didn't know what the target was or how to know I was wrong. I was not really "free" as I was "dependent" on someone else to generate ideas.
When you transition from order-filler to trader, you come to the market every day with a plan that you developed. You can do that because you have done the work to understand the broad mechanics of the vehicles you trade and the market forces behind them.
You come with a playbook that you own. You don't need tweets or alerts from someone or a service to find your next trade. You (or a system you derived) are driving the show. It feels amazing to show up every day like this. You can't wait for the market to open!
A next step toward independence is taking your developed and independent skill and rolling it up with enough size to provide sustainable income in a non-linear income world. Trading income is non-linear, which means it doesn't come like a regular paycheck.
It comes in "chunks" and through deliberate discipline to wait for the conditions that favor your independent and honed edge.
It's an opportunity (You have a business that can scale with the addition of another contract!) and it's a challenge (you have to fight yourself to wait for those moments to apply that size).
Next, you reach a level of independence where you are in control of your playbook and your development such that you can easily assess new market input as complimenting to edge, or white noise.
It's a market trope, but it's wise to consider that every edge (aside from structural edge) has been arbed out. To last in this game, you have to continue the development cycle over and over.
There is a definitive bell curve for those who last, but that's often because they love the work. They love the struggle and they actually see the challenge as much or more appealing than the opportunity.
In fact, the challenge of conquering themselves in relation to the market is "the" incredible and counterintuitive opportunity!
We Americans often talk about the "American Experiment" as if we are still working out the ideals and aspirations set in motion with the Declaration. I love this! That's a meaningful guidepost for trading as well.
We never arrive, we just live out more and more of the ideals. Just as the struggle for Colonial independence was arduous and long, so will be your journey....but man is it ever worth fighting for! Happy Independence day! 👊💪🇺🇸
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
