Whenever my team lost, the coach would tell us, “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” Over the years I’ve learned there’s truth to that statement but that, personally, I’d rather win. I’ve also learned the power of loss. My dad used to say, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Good words to remember for a futures trader. It’s from the small losses that you learn how to win.
The real lesson I learned from my Dad is “How do you know if this will work unless you try.” Lesson: pull the trigger on the very next trade you see and keep a log of what physically happened and how you felt at each stage.
As you’re building your system and your trading approach, you have to expect to lose sometimes. Losing sends you back to the drawing board. You analyze, study, rethink, figure out why you lost. Keep a log of your losses. Every half dozen or so, sit down and search for the common denominator. When you find it (and you will), stomp on it! Losses should galvanize you to find the faults in your system and destroy the demons in your approach.
You can’t afford to let your losses bog you down. You must consider each loss an opportunity to improve. Losing is not your enemy; it is your teacher. Learn from your losses. Loss is the foundation of future success. Ask any successful man when in his life he felt most alive, most virile, most passionate and he will tell you it was when he was starting out, when he was young and struggling, when he first turned failure into success.
We celebrate success but do not learn from it. We learn from pain, frustration, confusion, uncertainty, inconsistency, disappointment — all forms of loss. You must suffer the agony of defeat before you can achieve the joy of victory! By experiencing all the different ways to lose, futures traders learn how to win.
About Bill
