You might not be ready yet

You might not be ready yet. While athletes might reject a statement like this from their coach, coaches have made that assessment time in and time out to the best of their team members. Timing when to go to the Olympics or face a competitor is crucial. A self-evaluation in this aspect is very difficult since highly driven individuals always seek participation and competition. Yet a hard blow avoided at some time might ensure the longevity of a career, and fine-tuned timing to avoid personal risk for injury or worse psychological strain that is hard to recover from, is essential.

How does this principle relate to a trading career?

We have often talked about solutions to overcome counterintuitive behaviors and otherwise hard-to-detect solutions to particular trading obstacles. What we have left out so far is that, at times, enough is enough. Certain personal obstacles need time to be overcome or improved to the level where market participation is sensible.

An aspiring trader might have come as far as developing a solid trading edge/system and even paper trade it with success, yet actual execution eludes them.

Working on execution problems as significant as honoring stops or being disciplined on exits or timing, stress, overwhelm, risk acceptance, and alike, challenges the individual to self-reflective behavior that might go back to childhood drama of unworthiness and similar self-worth issues that, without resolve will always come back to the surface in self-sabotaging actions once trades get executed.

If a trader faces a sabotage loop of cashing in early or running stops or miss-managing his trade once entries have been made or hesitancy in execution or involuntary chases missed opportunities or otherwise succumbs to FOMO(=fear of missing out) reactionary faulty execution, dispair might set in at some point.

At this point, facing the truth, "you might not be ready yet," is the best direction to improve the game.

Trading is very complex and has endless variants that root deep in one's personality and unique circumstances.

It is not healthy to push all these aspects and apply pressure at all times to get ahead.

Climbing mount Everest requires a climber to be in for a brief period to be in what is called the death zone. Above 26,000 feet, nature's conditions have one's body eat up itself, and only a short exposure is possible; otherwise, certain death is a consequence.

It isn't enough to be an excellent climber to attempt the peak of Mount Everest. Many aspects, just like trading, come into play for a good judgment call if an attempt toward the summit has acceptable risks.

Traders need to make an assessment, and there are many times when a call to postpone market participation is the wisest decision.

Facing the inability to adopt a skill necessary for accurate trade execution is a warning sign that it might be best to take a breather and approach the next steps more slowly and differently besides just trying to push forward.

The psyche can be damaged, and uncovering one's skeletons in one's closet should be done with the utmost care and in a gentle and loving fashion.

Some aspects need time and patience, and rushed or forced behavior might end a trading career prematurely.

For mount Everest climbers, that means various steps of acclimation processes and a patient process of climb and decent to work oneself over time higher up the mountain and getting used to thin air.

There is no shame in skipping this year's submissions to the Olympics and instead preparing for the next one in four years if it means that this self-evaluation is founded on principles of not getting hurt and being better prepared and bringing home a medal versus a psychological burden.

Intelligent and courageous coaches have long administered such good advice to their best team members.

Traders mainly coaching themselves need to find the courage also to pass and take a break, allowing yet for more time and patience for the right timing on when to step into the ring versus unnecessary money loss and psychological risk to harm themselves to a point where the entire game is over for good.

Admitting oneself that one might not be ready yet might feel like defeat or worse. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to make a step like this. It is far from a step back, but more likely the best decision you have ever made as a trader should this step apply to your situation.

Psychology is a very tricky field, and it takes experience to self-reflect and know when "enough is enough."

In this part of trading, force can't be applied since all it causes is damage and setback. Be gentle with yourself and create wise steps regarding a timeline on when to step into the ring and face the market and yourself.