ES 6-2-11

It's how you play the game that counts


this post is not about MAs or MP or money management or stop losses. this post is about playing a good game.

i've been involved in sports since i was five years old and have heard the old "It's not whether you win or lose ..." saying dozens, maybe hundreds or thousands of times. it didn't take long to get the message, but it did take a while to 'get' the message. in fact, i got it today.

short version of today: i dug a hole, got out, dug another, got out, and finished profitable but played crappy most of the day. it wasn't whether i won or lost, but how i played the game. i finished the day profitably, but was disappointed with my performance. and not in the vein of "Man, i left money on the table ..." or the like. the result was not disappointing, it was the journey that was a disappointment.

i've said it along that i don't trade for the money and i have always meant it. obviously, i don't do it for free, but it is the game itself that i enjoy. the whole process is a kick to me. lately though, the profit/loss aspect has become decreasingly important. the game has become increasingly important. i told my wife that today really tied that notion together for me. i was actually encouraged that i was disappointed with my win. a funny thing about today was that i have had much better worse days - in other words, i have had bigger up days on much worse trading days. regardless, today was my epiphany, my lightbulb, my ah ha!, my eureka!

will i trade flawlessly the rest of my career? no. that's not even a goal or expectation. what i do expect is to play my game and continually strive to improve my game. i'm convinced that internalizing this perspective will be the factor that sets me apart from the masses. it may not be tomorrow or next week or this year, but it will happen. i will continue to play my game, the game of trading.

game on!

take care


omni

BTW: keep in mind i am a discretionary trader. the strategy of game may be less of an issue for true automatic/systems traders. dunno.
take care and good trading -

Derek