Patient: "When I lift my arm like this, it hurts!"
Doctor : "Well don't do it then!"
Okay so it's old and a bit crude but it actually applies to trading. How many times have you entered a trade and then said "I knew that would happen" or "That always happens to me"??? I know I said it a lot when I started out. I hear it a lot when I work with new traders so I answer like the doctor "Don't do it then!"
Obviously you need to explain it better than that so here goes. I maintain there are two types of people in life, Victims and Victor. The former is the easiest group to belong to because you do not have to accept responsibility for anything. You can just say "it's not my fault". Now before anyone suggests I am pointing fingers or trying pigeon hole people let me explain. We are a mixture of both groups and even I try and play the victim at times. It won't be in trading, it will be when I have forgotten to do something for the wife! The same thought process applies though so I try and keep it to the absolute minimum.
It is actually good fun to check friends and family; are they victims or victors? If you ask a victim personality to do something they generally reply "I'll never manage that" or "I can't do that ask.....so and so" Basically they have prepared their excuse for failure before the task. If you ask a victor personality they generally say "I'll give it a go" or "I'm not sure how it works but I'll try" Obviously you don't want to goad people or label them, keep your observations to yourself.
You cannot jump from one camp to the other in a single bound but you can slowly change your allegiance.
Why is it that supposedly good traders do not fall into this trap? Well at first they did, but they realise that for them to improve they have to acknowledge their error and move forward. If you hold onto the excuse it becomes something of a joker card. You keep the card up your sleeve and when it all goes pear shaped you play your joker card "not my fault!"
Do you also blame a lack of knowledge or data for your reticence? This is also a classic victim trait and it usually applies to highly intelligent people. Edward de Bono refers to it as the Intelligence Trap and it is so true as to be scary. Again, this is not finger pointing or an "I am better than you" crusade. I always fell into this trap and one day I realised something had to change. I had to listen to people and try to improve what I was both doing and thinking. The light in my head went on as I realised it worked and it worked very well!!
The intelligence trap is where people use their own knowledge and intelligence to either defend their own point of view or to prove another party wrong. It is almost self fulfilling and the person is consumed by this process so much they can't see any other explanation but their own. According to scientists bees cannot fly (thanks to ChrisCGN who reminded me of this one) but someone forgot to tell the bees so they just carry on flying! That is a classic example of the intelligence trap.
So next time you do something, try not to have that joker card up your sleeve. I guess it is a bit like a highwire act performing without a safety net! Now you don't need to fall off and injure yourself but you have to start off at a low level so a fall is not too dangerous. Then you climb higher as you improve which is akin to the stakes in trading. If you always have that joker card up your sleeve then you'll never leave the ground!