Don't Play the Wrong Game

The Demon

Imagine there’s a demon that sits on your shoulder whose sole job is to make you lose as a trader.

A trade setup comes and your system signals you to open Long. The demon simply says, “are you sure?” Nothing ominous. In fact, it genuinely sounds concerned for your success and even uses the most trustworthy voice you know.. your own. In your voice it says, “what if it doesn’t? How can you know? You need more surety before you take action” And because it is the voice of trust, you agree. “Yeah, I need to be sure first. I need to be cautious and look for more proof so I don't lose.”

Everything about that interaction seemed like your own voice. And the demon wins by keeping you out of a good trade opportunity.

Followership as a Lifestyle

The reason this is allowed to happen is because you have created a vacuum in your life by choosing to trade. Outside of trading you are employed. A boss tells you what to do and what is right. You just listened and followed instructions. The same with your church group. The same with your clubs. Even the golf course and swimming pool have written rules that you didn’t make up yourself, but you are expected to follow. The space in your mind that creates rules and establishes boundaries has atrophied to nearly nothing. You have spent your whole life being a follower and looking outside of yourself for the structure and framework of society. This is "Followership as a lifestyle.”

When you come to the trading table, there are no rules. And in the absence of outside directives, you let trading culture, the culture of losers since most traders lose, dictate the rules of the game. And those rules are “try to win, try not to lose.” And in the context of that game, this little shoulder-demon sets up shop in your mind, posing as a friend to keep you out of trouble, and makes sure you are always keenly aware of the rules: try to win, try not to lose.

Leadership as a Lifestyle

The only way to win is to create your own game. And the only way to do that is to be a leader in your own mind. In the absence of a boss, a leader, or a posted sign that tells you what to do, you have to create the objective of your own game with enough leadership inside of yourself to actually believe it and stand up for it when it is challenged.

When a voice in your head says, “How do you know this will win? How do you know it won’t lose? Are you sure? What if it doesn’t?” You get to say back to that voice, “That’s not important because that’s not the game I’m playing” because you’ve decided to play a different game. Your game is “Play the odds.” And that’s a game in which the outcome of any single trade does not matter. All that matters is the precision of execution, and the consistency of execution, and whether or not you genuinely have a statistical advantage.

Next time it sounds like you have concerns over the outcome of any single trade, stand up for the game you’re actually playing. The voice of concern is not the voice of a winner. And a leader would not be fooled because a leader would recognize that it is concerned about things that are not of any concern for the game being played.