“We overestimate what we can accomplish in a year, and underestimate what we can accomplish in 10 years.”
I’ve heard this quote thrown around over the years, and there’s a lot to take from this for us traders. It is only human nature to seek instant gratification and often we put huge expectations on ourselves in the short term. We want to make big money and we want to make it right away. The reality is, reaching a point of consistency in your trading is a result of focusing on the right things year after year.
Successful traders put their natural desires for instant gratification aside and instead focus on the big picture. Trading is a game that can lead to long-term wealth. Trading can also lead to financial ruin in the short term if you approach the game with the wrong mentality. What some traders fail to realize is the market experiences volatile ups and downs. As a result of trying to rush the process, traders rob themselves of the steady, forward progress they could have otherwise achieved with a different mindset.
Trading is a tough game, but imagine how much harder it becomes when placing huge expectations on yourself in the short term. Just as important, imagine how much easier the game could be for you if your goal was instead to make a lot of money over the course of many years. With the second mindset, you’re focusing strictly on the big picture and solely on the things that can move you closer toward your goals over time.
Over the years, I have learned that my job is to simply trade one clean setup after another. To put it simply, that is it and nothing else matters. I don’t come to the market thinking about what I can accomplish this week. Instead, I simply focus on waiting for the next high-probability opportunity. I eliminate short-term expectations, deadlines, and any other stipulations. I know that if I simply do my job and trade nothing but the best setups the market has to offer over and over again, the numbers will work in my favor over time. This process slowly moves me toward the financial independence so many of us are after.
If you find yourself stressed over what you feel is a lack of accomplishment in the short-term, I suggest you stop focusing so much on the next one to two weeks and instead focus on being a good trader for the next five to 10 years. You will likely find yourself feeling much more “free” as a trader when you stop trying to accomplish all of your life’s goals ASAP!
It’s the classic tale of the tortoise versus the hare, and in trading tortoises end up wealthy and hares continuously “spin their wheels.”
Stay Focused!