Think Like A Trader Blog

Tuesday 26 July 2016

What Are Your Goals?


Reading Time - 4 Minutes.
 

Hello Traders.

I always think it is good to have a set of goals. I tend to find I revise mine as I move through the year and new opportunities arise, just as old ideas fall away. I also think it’s a good idea to write your goals down. The both physical and mental acts of putting the ideas down is like a layer of cement, fixing them in place in your mind and making a visible representation that there is no hiding from – you can easily ‘ignore’ the fact that you promised yourself you would go to the gym three times per week when the cold winter nights begin to draw in; that becomes much more difficult when it is printed on a sheet of A4 paper in bold typeface and stuck to your wall!

So here are my goals for the remainder of the year and a little summary of where I am at with them. Please feel free to post your own thoughts and ramblings of the mind in the comments section also!

1)   Cut back on the trading… yes, I can hear you all sighing! You’re thinking, ‘isn’t this the guy who finishes early on most days? How lazy can you be?

Well, this is true. I have thus far cut myself back to finishing at the US open at 2:30pm. However, I want to shave that back to 1pm at the latest. Moving into the lunch hour the market tends to die down anyway. And what I find is that the vast majority of my trades come early on in the morning session – ergo, forcing myself to sit at the computer after this does not make sense.

Is this laziness? Absolutely not. I want the time to work on other things – moving forward with trading training/writing/working on new methods/reading and learning more about the trading world.

Where am I at with this?

Currently I am ‘attempting’ to do it. However I still struggle to walk away if I haven’t had a trade. This is because I know there will be one on 90% of days. However I will get there!

2)   Improve Zone Trader.

I am doing this based on feedback from Subscribers I have picked up over the past 6 months or so. I am always adapting and improving my methods, so Zone Trader is always in a constant state of flux as it is. However I am now re-recording some of the videos to make sure they incorporate and explain more thoroughly the parts I know people have been struggling with.

Where am I with this?

Working on it!

3)   All things Seminar!

Yes, people have spoken and I am trying to answer on this one. I didn’t initially want to do it – the thought of speaking to a room full of people over one or two days is pretty daunting to say the least. However after giving it more and more thought, I am going to at least give it an initial try with one or two dates.

Where am I at with Seminars?

Planning stage, basically. Once the new website launches I will begin looking at potential dates and locations and let you all know as this happens. It will most likely be next year and over two days. I am at a very rough stage of planning as I say, but thus far I am looking at –

Day 1 – Zone Trader in depth

Day 2 – Specific Trades – Blind buy and sells. Spring Bounce Trade. Advanced support and resistance. Gap trades. Open spiking trade.

In future I will also be looking at incorporating a swing trading seminar, most likely as a stand alone. I am currently working on this and have been ‘testing’ my methods for many months now (and they are looking very good!)

Phew. There we go. Those are my main goals moving forward and although there are others, the ones listed are the ones that relate to the trading world!

I hope you all have a great trading week!

8 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing James. I hope that growing zone trader won't lead to less quality time for yourself as you have to spend more time answering my annoying questions. I agree that telling people your goals can give you the motivation to stick at them.
    if I wrote down one goal it would be to get out of working for someone else. there's nothing worse than being a slave in a system which doesn't care anything for you. I'd rather spend that time on things I enjoy and people or causes that matter. That's not easy to achieve when you only have 3 and a half gcses and no desirable qualities. I've often thought that the stock market could provide a means to self sufficient and my search for reliable patterns lead me to your course. I really hope I can apply your knowledge to achieve my goal otherwise I'll be back to sticking those flashing things on ATMS.

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    1. Hi Gregory.

      I'm hoping to see you develop as a trader also. Just take your time and don't put too much pressure on yourself.

      My education level is High School only. I learned very quickly that 'formal education' does not mean intelligence. Some of the smartest people I know (and the wealthiest) didn't go to University.

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  2. Almost felt like I wrote the above reply post myself 😃 great stuff and great post Jam!

    main goal - I am a consistent profitable trader.
    (This I write down as an affirmation all day every day since zone trader started for me and so far has given me 3 months of recorded equity curves that keep me accountable)

    secondly goal - to help James grow with seminars when the going gets tough.

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    1. Love to hear about the affirmations and also the profitable trading. Well done.

      Looking forward to the seminars!

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  3. Very excited to see you expanding Zone Trader, James - seminars sound like a fantastic idea! Wishing you nothing but the best as you continue to build : )

    Here are some of my current trading goals:

    - Trust the quality of my analysis fully. I am much better about this than I used to be, and thanks in no small part because of your excellent YouTube channel and incredibly thoughtful yet elegant explanations, but I still catch myself hesitating somewhat on entries or prematurely exiting, sometimes leaving an additional 1% on the table (though usually not without coming AT LEAST 1:1 on risk). It's a good problem to have, honestly, because all it really shows me is that there is a great deal of potential yet to be claimed!

    - Simplify my analysis. I've put this one to practice this week, and so far it's worked a real treat, especially to help solve the above issue! I've gone from getting totally OCD and identifying every possible level of price action to limiting things to where I would reasonably expect to take action. All that practice was still quite useful, but I'm way more relaxed and confident now about what levels/zones are truly important. Plus, my charts are waaaay cleaner : P

    - Stay humble and focus on keeping the rhythm. This is more of a long-term goal, but as I have begun to get more consistently profitable, I have to make sure I stick to my plan and remain disciplined about my analytical regimen. Thinking I'm hot shit and dramatically changing my trading plan on a hunch has cost me dearly in the past. I certainly don not intend to make that mistake again.

    Thank you so much for all the hard work you have done and for sharing your knowledge with us, James!! If you are ever in the San Francisco area, I owe you many a pint : )

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    1. Hi Cory.

      Thank you for the well wishes.

      I'm delighted to hear you're growing as a trader, especially if you're becoming consistent! Well done.

      The problems you have outlined are very common and in all honesty, as long as you're following a solid plan and sticking to it, the majority of them begin to fall away as your mind becomes accustomed to trading and you get more comfortable.

      ''Thinking I'm hot shit and dramatically changing my trading plan on a hunch has cost me dearly in the past''

      This is the best way I have heard it described! It is so easy to begin to think you are somehow better than the market because you have had profitability... unfortunately the market is quick to correct you and it tends to cost you your hard earned cash!

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  4. Good morning James firstly I couldn't agree more on writing things down, I am a great believer in visualisation and indeed have positive affirmations and goals posted all over my wall, what you think about, you bring about 😀 My goals are numerous, some rather grand (my family think I'm bonkers) but I'm am slowly working towards them. After working for 30 years for the local government and still not financially secure I decided to "go it alone" firstly in Network Marketing which I discovered it wasn't my thing then I, thankfully, stumbled across trading, a light bulb moment for me! I am hooked and determined to make a living from it. It feels right. So my 1st goal is to be constantly profitable overall, I trade very very small amounts whilst I am learning. 2nd to master my discipline. 3rd subscribe to Zone Trader. I could go on and on but I'm afraid I would bore you to death 😬 Just one more thing re: qualifications as one person mentioned. I too have very little to speak of in formal qualifications and it was my Achilles Heel for many years, but I taught myself things and after years of self doubt came to believe "anything is possible" if you believe in yourself. I wish you all true success and to James I am so very grateful for all you do 😀

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    1. Hi Jane.

      They are all good goals in my opinion!

      I couldn't agree more about the visualisations and positive affirmations. They have always served me very well throughout my life - both the good times and the bad.

      I also think one of the best decisions anyone can make is to 'go it alone' as you put it. It's only when we decide to do it ourselves that we begin to explore all of the paths that are open to us.

      As always, good luck with the trading moving forward.

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