How many traders actually plan their practices to get optimal benefit from them?
When a coach like Bob Knight reviews a game's performance, he's looking for what to emphasize in coming practice. He might then watch film of the coming opponent and tweak his practice plans. Every practice is designed to correct past mistakes and prepare for the next team's vulnerabilities.
What is a trader's practice?
For the active trader, it's studying the previous day's trading, replaying markets, identifying best and worst trades, and cementing lessons learned.
It's also seeing how the coming day is setting up across markets and in premarket trade, developing what-if scenarios for trade ideas, and rehearsing the day's goals.
By the end of the week, the prepared trader has five days of experience. The trader who is not practicing has one day of experience repeated five times.
Your preparation creates your trading psychology. Confidence cannot be created out of thin air; it has to be earned, with effort as the price we pay. Can you imagine members of a basketball team preparing for the next day by simply writing in journals? If the effort of preparation is far lower than the effort required by performance, you will not be mentally prepared. Boot camp is extra tough to prepare for the toughness of the battlefield. Effective preparation is your boot camp.
Further Reading: Becoming a Peak Performing Trader
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