What percentage of us routinely keeps informative data on our trading results?
What percentage of those traders keep regular journals to turn the trading data into actual goals and plans?
What percentage of those traders then tracks their goals and plans and holds themselves accountable them going forward?
Put it this way: If you pursued greatness in any professional sport, how likely would it be to find success if you worked as hard at that sport as you currently do at your trading?
Could it be that the majority of traders fail to find success, not because they trade the wrong "setups" and styles, but because they pursue performance in ways that could not work in any performance field?
In an excellent post, Bry Gomez from the Caylum Trading Institute points to a study from the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) in which the probability of reaching a goal was studied as a function of the level of accountability for that goal. Simply formulating a goal led to a probability of success of 10%. Having a concrete plan for reaching the goal raised the odds of attaining the goal to 50%. Having a specific person to whom you are accountable for the goal--and a specific time set to review performance with that person--led to an achievement rate of 95%.
In other words, it's not simply about having good intentions or even having good goals. It's about leveraging the power of human relationships to become fully accountable for achieving those goals. Creating daily report cards of performance and sharing those with peers becomes a best practice that can greatly improve performance, as Mike Bellafiore has observed in the development of traders.
We find our potential when we make life a team sport.
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