How to become good at trading

Trading a particular setup for discretionary traders is a very specific skill. Skills in trading are setup specific. Just because someone can day trade may not make him instantly a good position trader unless he or she develops skills for that setup.

You develop skills only if you develop unconscious memory for doing it. Psychologist call that kind of memory procedural memory.

For a dancer procedural memory involves unconsciously coordinating hands, legs, and body to create graceful fluid motion.

Similarly for a trader it involves judging right setup, entry, exit, risk , stop and all of that as one fluid motion without fumbling.

Procedural memories are typically acquired through repetition and practice. When you do that your brain undergoes some changes and automatic behavior sequence memory is formed. That memory gets so deeply embedded in our brain that we are no longer aware of them.

Every Tuesday I take Tanya for her ice skating lessons. If you watch some of the very skilled coaches (some who competed at Olympic level), they do it so effortlessly. The key to that is correct techniques and hours and hours of practice.

It is same for swing trading.

For a given setup he or she develop procedural memory which kicks in as soon as that setup shows up. He or she enters and exit the setup effortlessly.

Develop procedural memory for momentum burst if you want to trade it

Develop procedural memory for Episodic Pivots if you want to trade it

Develop procedural memory for pullbacks if you want to trade them

Develop procedural memory for short setup if you want to trade them

Develop procedural memory for value investing if that is what interests you

Develop procedural memory for growth investing if that is what interests you

Each of these involves some serious practice and defining right process....

If you can do that over hundreds of trade you will develop procedural memory and then it will be lifelong skill.

Start with process flow if want to improve your trading

Write down your process flow .

Unless you write it down you do not have a process flow.

The simple act of doing it will clarify things to you.

This exercise has been done by many members here over the year

Create your own :

• Scanning rules to find stock you want to trade
• Entry Rules
• Stops rule
• Risk rules
• Exit rules
• Trade management rules

See if they make sense

Try and explain it to others, see if it makes sense.

Just do it for one method or scan and keep refining it till it becomes part of you...