Why Can't I Improve My Trading?

 

Think of how many trading courses are out there.  Consider how many trading and trading psychology books have been written.  Trading videos, tweets, interviews, podcasts:  the amount of content related to trading success is phenomenal.  And every week we get more and more and more.  Traders I hear from read books, watch videos, take courses--and they wonder, "Why can't I improve my trading?"

To address this question, I'll offer an analogy:

I could write chapters on how to pack, wear, and deploy a parachute.  I could produce videos on proper parachute maintenance and use.  I could teach a parachute course.  Now suppose you consumed all of the content I created on how to master the parachute and then you jumped out of a helicopter with your parachute.

How would you fare?

Of course, in the military, you learn to properly pack a parachute by packing parachutes and getting first hand instruction and inspection.  You learn to deploy a parachute by being tied to a line from a height and then dropping:  first at relatively low heights, then at higher heights.  You deploy the parachute again and again during real drops that are completely safe before you tackle riskier jumps.

The reason for this is that learning is state-dependent.  We are most likely to recall information and enact skills when we are in the state that we were in during our learning.  If we learn parachuting skills when we are calm and collected in a classroom, we're unlikely to recruit those skills when we're making a leap and the adrenaline is flowing.

Traders typically learn trading techniques and get psychological coaching when they are very far from the heat of battle.  Everything they learn flies out the window when markets are moving and there's real risk and reward every moment.  

We can't learn to drive racecars by watching videos, reading books, or absorbing tweets.

We can't learn combat skills in wartime by staying safe and peaceful in a classroom.  We can't master our upheavals of trading psychology when we're quiet and comfortable outside of market hours.

The best trading education and trading psychology is processed in real-time, in the act of trading.  We learn best by acquiring and practicing skills when we're in the mental, emotional, and physical states of real performance.  Our best teacher is realistic, progressive simulation.

For trading psychology, this is a game-changing insight.  More to come--

Further Reading:

Using Your Body to Program Your Mind

Overcoming the Triggers to Poor Trading

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