A relevant question becomes, "Are you perfectly clear what your entry parameters are for this market and type of trade setup?" Most think they are until they go through a third party review.
Another question to consider is, "Could your son, wife or grandmother initiate the trade on your setups if you wrote it down for them?" This is a good way to determine the simplicity and clarity of your strategy.
There are two components that support confident trade execution, namely, the landscape of your computer screen and your trade journal. Many traders have the indicator of the month, the latest charting technique, or several markets displayed on their screen that they’ve heard others be successful trading. All of these items may work from time to time, but most probably too much information scattered across your computer serves only to clutter your thinking and detract from initiating trade setups in a timely manner. As Mark Douglas noted, "trading is simple when the mind is not complex." Simplicity supports initiative; thus, competent traders remember to KISS before they trade (i.e., Keep It Simple Smarty).
Secondly, you need to capture notes and times on all your trade initiations. Digital journaling on the screen works expediently. We have helped traders compress the time for this by using a system of codes. Some professional traders even use video recording of their screen as it offers a visually rich post trade review that enhances the clarity of their execution parameters. The point is, if you don't write it, its hard to review it, thus you can't refine it, and therefore you won't be able to initiate it when the next opportunity comes knocking. Traders we've coached all use the art of writing (with chart graphics) to the highest degree. It helps their mind narrow around key trade variables that rests within the bigger context of an unfolding story about their particular market.
For example, one trader had several different methodologies on his screen at one time: market profile, market delta, point and figure, vwap with bands, and bar charts with moving averages. All these were employed to make the same type of trade on two simultaneous markets. Needless to say, the trader was overcome with anxiety and had little clarity or consistency. By simplifying the computer screen landscape, which meant narrowing the focus down to one or two chart views, the trader began to initiate trades much more consistently and appropriately.
This is the domain of POISED where the rubber meets the road. Often traders accumulate certain blocking beliefs or habits of mind that hold them back from doing what they intend to do. Historical losses that were painful tend to linger in the mind and trigger doubt and a need for more confirming information that unfortunately delays decision making leading to missed opportunity. Assisting a trader in re-scripting negative beliefs into affirming possibilities via emotional processing protocols used to treat anxiety or trauma conditions have proven very beneficial. When blocking beliefs and their binding emotions are resolved, a trader is free to initiate a trade when the strategy and market indicate the time is right to execute.
By streamlining a traders visual charting inputs and helping the mind and body be in a state of even keel, the outcome is often a more efficient and consistent trade initiation. This doesn’t happen overnight, however. More often it is through deliberate practice, reflective journaling, making mistakes, reviewing errors, tweaking strategies, and dedicated hard work, that a trader begins to access the earned state of performance called poised 2 perform.
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