A successful trading path

"Chop wood carry water before enlightenment,

chop wood carry water after enlightenment."

This proverb describes the human condition very well

We simply got to chop and carry...

Trading is no different.

One starts to hope for luck, dabbles with trades, and ends up with a 100% loss rate since intuitive decisions in a counterintuitive environment do just that. Then we set out to find the holy grail. A formula or piece of knowledge to open the gate to riches.

More time and money are wasted on people who promise they got the key to open sesame.

Finally, chop and carry gets accepted, and it takes years for good entries to be mastered, only to realize that exit mastery solves the riddle of consistency.

At this stage, hope sets in with a mediocre system in place, which one fails to execute correctly to discover that 95% of trading is psychology and execution skills are a whole other bag of flees.

Back to the drawing board since three things are now required:

A. System improvement to compensate for human error when executing that system(=higher hit rates and more excellent risk-reward ratios)

B. Self-analyses about self-worth to first step forward into abundance on an emotional basis(this takes years again)

C. Execution skills: "practice, practice, practice."

And are we now getting rich?

Unfortunately not!

The following insight will be that more than one system is needed. Markets come in cycles, so a minimum of seven systems are required to cover the basic cycle questions are satisfied:

1.What to do when markets go sideways up

2.What to do when markets go up

3.What to do when markets go sideways

4.What to do when markets go sideways down

5.What to do when markets go down

6.What to do when markets chop

7.What to do when markets creep

While we are now better equipped and have the first signs of success manifesting on our P/L, equity curves still fluctuate unacceptably.

Risk comes to the forefront of a problem.

Money management, a reasonably complex theme, can be solved with good literature since it is a sufficiently straight-up science.

Here we are, and this still needs to make the results feel more comfortable and manageable.

Predicting the future and living in a world of uncertainties isn't a human's cup of tea.

As humans, we do not see the world for what it is. We have a filter system for managing the overwhelming data flow of constant expansion where we compare new events with past similarities rather than accepting that every moment is unique and the world is one of continual change and expansion.

The acknowledgment of the principle:

"Chop wood carry water before enlightenment,

chop wood carry water after enlightenment,"

is the only way to step forward into mastery.

Mastery, in this case, is defined as finding comfort and ease with one's work and trade execution on a daily bases.

This can be achieved by accepting that, like the universe, markets constantly evolve, and as such, there is no place of arriving to be found consoling a trader who would seek out a status quo.

One way to play this game successfully and joyfully is by accepting that a consistent flow of problems is provided, and asking for quality questions to receive answers (ask and you shall receive) is one way to mastery.