You can become a competent trader

The way procedural memory works is by embedding a muscle or thinking sequence in your memory. A complex task involving say 25 steps is stored in procedural memory as one unit (schema) and when performing the task it is recalled in an instant.

For example if you microscopically study the process involved in driving there are many things happening simultaneousness, you are operating different parts of a machine simultaneously, at the same time you are constantly studying the environment and making major or minor adjustments in a flash of a second. You don't go around looking for a driving manual to figure out if you see someone cut in to your lane or car in front of you breaks suddenly, or a deer runs in front of you. You react to it instantly. Why because driving is a procedural memory skill. You develop it by practice. Once it becomes etched in your memory it becomes part of you.

Same way trading is a procedural memory skill. Successful traders have developed procedural memory for swing trading or day trading , or value investing , or growth investing. Large part of their skill is procedural. It comes automatically to them. They cannot explain it in step by step manner. That is why even if you join say Zanger's site or Gill Morales site you don't acquire the skill unless you can break down their skill in to component steps and then replicate it and practice it. That is where most traders fail.

They have the desire to be successful trader but they do not have time and inclination to put in the deliberate practice required to develop the procedural skill. Some people have intellectual arrogance, they believe (rightly or wrongly) that they are so smart that they can just figure this out by reading or watching a video. It does not work that way. They approach trading from a declarative memory point of view believing that all they need is knowledge. And it does not work. That is why trading humbles many.

People who are extremely successful in their own field like medicine, film making, law or management attempt trading and they often fail. They have extremely good semantic memory but they have not put in enough effort to develop procedural memory.

Unfortunately most book on trading psychology also do not really deal with procedural memory development. They give you advise which is of no use unless you develop procedural memory skills.

When you make conscious attempt to develop procedural memory your self efficacy beliefs change. In the process of mastering a skill you gain a mastery experience. You reach a stage where you realize "hey I can do this". Once that happens then you attempt more difficult skill improvement.

Self-efficacy beliefs also help determine how much effort people will expend on an activity, how long they will persevere when confronting obstacles, and how resilient they will be in the face of adverse situations. The higher the sense of efficacy, the greater the effort, persistence, and resilience. People with a strong sense of personal competence approach difficult tasks as challenges to be mastered rather than as threats to be avoided. They have greater intrinsic interest and deep engrossment in activities, set themselves challenging goals and maintain strong commitment to them, and heighten and sustain their efforts in the face of failure. Moreover, they more quickly recover their sense of efficacy after failures or setbacks, and attribute failure to insufficient effort or deficient knowledge and skills that are acquirable.

Self-efficacy beliefs also influence an individual's thought patterns and emotional reactions. High self-efficacy helps create feelings of serenity in approaching difficult tasks and activities. Conversely, people with low self-efficacy may believe that things are tougher than they really are, a belief that fosters anxiety, stress, depression, and a narrow vision of how best to solve a problem. As a consequence, self-efficacy beliefs can powerfully influence the level of accomplishment that one ultimately achieves. This function of self-beliefs can also create the type of self-fulfilling prophecy in which one accomplishes what one believes one can accomplish. That is, the perseverance associated with high self-efficacy is likely to lead to increased performance, which, in turn, raises one's sense of efficacy and spirit, whereas the giving-in associated with low self-efficacy helps ensure the very failure that further lowers confidence and morale.

One of the ways the members site helps you enhance your self efficacy beliefs is through social modelling. People form their self-efficacy beliefs through the vicarious experience of observing others perform tasks. If Dan , or Tumbler, or bh , or ybn , or mpraps, or rjsteffen can do this , hey I can also do this. You get to see other traders in action. You get to see how novice trader become good trader in matter of month by following a set process. You get to ask hundreds of questions to them about the "how" part of trading and the "why" part of trading. The bootcamps focus your attention on one topic and force you to go in to detail of it and force you to put a structure around your trading. You get to interact with traders who make a million dollar a year and also those trying to grow small accounts. 

Each one of you can become a competent trader if you understand the concept of procedural memory and self efficacy beliefs. Whether you will become a elite trader  like Zanger or Morales or Minervini is a different question. Elite traders have a undefinable X factor which is difficult to explain. But even if you do not reach that stage, being competent trader itself is enough. With enough competence you will be able to grow your 401K , grow your trading account and achieve your financial goal.

But for that you need to make the first effort at developing procedural memory.... absent that you are just dreaming or hoping..