8/13/2026 - We are always coaching ourselves. Some of us do it in a conscious, planned fashion and others do it randomly. Our self-talk *is* our self-coaching. We are always talking to ourselves about what we're doing, what we have done, and what we should do. That internal voice is the coach within us.
That is why it's a great test to ask ourselves: Would I want someone else to talk to me the way I speak to myself? Would I speak to a good friend or colleague the way I speak to myself? If the answers to these questions are no, then it's likely that our self-talk (our self-coaching) is sabotaging us.
The reality is that informed, constructive self-talk, like informed, constructive trading, is something that has to be learned, practiced, and cultivated. We need to work on our self-coaching every bit as much as we work on our trading, because we're looking for mastery in both domains.
Yes, we can hire trading coaches and we can sit on trading floors and listen to team leaders and managers guide us. But if we simply rely on others as our coaches, we won't necessarily learn the skills and develop the tools for effectively coaching ourselves. It starts with the quality of our self-talk and whether we're challenging and inspiring ourselves or draining ourselves of vital motivation.
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8/12/2026 - Why aren't we more successful in coaching ourselves to success? As noted below, structure is vital. If our coaching is irregular or if it's a mere add-on to our day's activity--something to get over and done--then it can't truly be internalized to change who we are and what we do. A great question is whether we review our trading/performance with the same intensity that we follow and trade markets. When we read about the Market Wizards, it becomes clear that they study markets and performance for long, intensive hours. That helps them internalize what they learn.
But another reason self-coaching is not successful is that it leaves out a key dimension of learning: emotion. If we look at successful coaches in sports and performance fields, they don't simply go over performance in rote, routine ways with performers. They motivate. They push for more and more, better and better. Think of locker room talks by basketball and football coaches. Think of the coaching of Olympic stars. The role of the coach is to inspire greater and greater performance.
How well do you inspire yourself in your self-coaching? How well do you motivate yourself? If your reviewing and planning are emotionless, routine processes, can they really push you to greater and greater achievement?
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8/11/2026 - Every trader is their own coach: how we talk to ourselves and how we spend time previewing and reviewing markets *is* our self-coaching. A worthwhile question to ask is: If we coached a new trader in the way we coach ourselves, how well would they develop? Alternatively, if we coached someone in the gym the way we coach our own trading, how well would they develop? Many traders are far too informal in their self-coaching, so that they never truly challenge themselves and grow.The first dimension of successful self-coaching is structure. We don't hesitate to structure our trade ideas, spelling out entries, exits, sizing criteria, etc. But how well do we structure our own coaching? What kind of notes do we take before trading starts, during trading, and after? How do we draw upon these notes to identify what we saw well and what we missed? How do we review the trades that we took to see how well we could improve what we did? How do we turn that review into action plans for the next day?
Look at workouts and practice sessions among sports teams or after action reviews by military squads. There is nothing informal about it. There is structure and there is purpose. Everything is geared to improve performance going forward. The coaching is motivational: sometimes encouraging, sometimes a kick in the behind. But there is always structure, going over performance in detail to highlight what we do well and what we could do better.