Trading can be a lonely task. You are on your own and completely responsible for the trades you enter (or not). If you listen to the opinions of other you’ll often be disappointed. A healthy collaboration, without losing your independence or responsibility can produce a lot. It can make you stronger, protect you from mistakes and also make it more sociable. After all, what can be better than sharing a common passion?
My growth as a trader has progressed rather quickly. This would definitely have been a different story if I hadn’t had a partner in trade. A quick summary. Since 2011 I know what a pip is. Within a few days I was so interested in the promising world of Forex and decided to open a demo-account. I practiced a little, regularly called the broker and started scouring the internet. After finding a few forums I found a forum at which I felt at home straight away. Although I didn’t understand everything, I felt that serious traders were at work here.
I started asking questions on this forum. After a good ten years of unsuccessful and mostly on gut-feeling trading of shares and options, I decided to read a few books. One thing was set in stone: (Forex) trading would be a success.
After writing on the forum how much I have learned in a short period, Martijn Luijckx sent me a personal message on the 12th of April. He offered to take a look at my current methods and scrutinise my system. ‘There are a few things you should really know and do.’
It started with the question: what kind of trader do I want to be?
I had gotten to know Martijn on the forum and he seemed a serious, skilled trader with a professional attitude. Considering he responded to my studious and serious approach, I knew this would be a fruitful collaboration. After the initial contact by email we decided to become acquainted by telephone. It turned out to become a very good conversation and we clicked immediately. I also got amazing emails. They gave food for thought. It started with the question: What kind of trader do I want to be? This is the basis for every strategy, for consistency and discipline. He also started sending videos in which the big boys of trading, such as Larry Hite gave golden advice about the core of trading. I was given tips for books to read and with them specific reasons on why I should read each one.
Having been given these tips I started reading Trend Following by Michael W. Covel and consequently Beyond Technical Analysis by Tushar S. Chande throughout the months of April and May. In the mean time we kept up the inspiring telephone conversations about our shared passion. It worked up enthusiasm for both of us and motivated me to read more. It didn´t happen overnight: Due to work I often lacked the time and energy to read books. It isn’t the kind of literature you just browse through. With a pen and dictionary in hand I started slowly reading through the pages, underlining important words and closing the book to think about what I just read. Real studying, but with a motivation I can’t remember having from my student days.
In the first week of May we found time to meet up. On the 4th of May we shook hands; 12 hours later we did the so again. In that half day we exchanged a lot: State of Mind was an especially important conversational topic. It was fun as well: We lunched in front of our laptops, watched videos in which Jordan Belfort talked about what state of mind made you successful: Educational and enjoyable above all.
During the hard times we like to look to Mr Belfort. Martijn also revealed what robust system he was working on. Until then he was successful in the EUR/USD but was looking to broaden his horizons. As Fellow trend-follower his approach appealed to me especially and agreed to continue together. A partnership in trading was born.
What we do is motivate and inform each other, feeding each other´s enthusiasm. What we don’t do is force things on each other. Our conversations show mutual respect and understanding as well as aiding our mutual advancement. Together we make each other stronger in a world which sometimes feels ice-cold, in which you are on your own battling the elements, in which no-one knows what is going on and it’s a dog-eat-dog world… An unpredictable world full of pitfalls and threats that incite fear, insecurity and frustration inside, and cause your principles and discipline to falter. This is exactly why it is so good to be able to work with someone, to make each other stronger and, when needed, keep each other standing. We also do it to have someone to share the success with.
During the month of June work took up the most time and trading in the demo-account wasn’t possible. Martijn sent me the occasional encouraging email about this. Luckily he understood that work had to be finished first. On the other hand his emails had encouraged me to become more concrete and to make a plan with which to start off my principles.
These are my principles
Although I have not yet written a plan (which I should really do), my principles have been crystal clear for some time.
I am a trend-trader, I only trade the charts and I operate a simple system. I am prepared to take risks and am always responsible for them. I only do what I believe and understand. I do not day trade and do not trade the news or other information. I will only be successful if I completely surrender to my system. Trading is simple but not easy. Success depends on the state of mind. Most people don´t have the correct mentality to become successful as a trader. This is why I have to constantly work on my attitude.
The necessary change in attitude can’t be seen as separate from the way we do things and our outlook on life. This is why Martijn and myself work on aspects of our attitude in our daily existence, so as to develop a new and natural traders-attitude from this. Patience is my pitfall; Martijn is still working on his RET-skills (See chapter 5) during drawdowns. On the 4th of May we found that we were both already working on making our weak points stronger. Trading is not something you can just do on the side; It is a way of life and a way of doing (learning) things differently. You could look at it as running a business: Maybe at home and without employees, but still a business.
What is a plan without planning?
To run a business successfully I didn’t just need a plan but proper planning as well. I looked at my diary and noticed most of my work would be finished in June. Because Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas was at the top of my wish list I decided to buy it in June and started reading it straight away. The month July was hailed as demo-month. On the 19th of June my first trade according to my system was entered. In the mean time we maintained contact by emails and the occasional phonecall. When my alpha-brain didn’t quite get the system Martijn outlined it step by step on in an email. A real trading pal!
Our conversations and emails regularly spawn suggestions to increase the efficiency of our collaboration. We have now begun sending each other our daily entries. When there are discrepancies we discuss them in a professional and committed manner; everything for success. Ideas about other activities around trading, our dreams will be worked out soon too.
Live
In August it was time for the next phase: the trial of live trading. I knew the platform, tried out the strategy repeatedly and after being stopped out twenty times seem to understand how tough trading can be. Seemed to be: I didn´t yet know how I would feel when I saw real money disappear (which I have to take in to consideration as a trend trader). To protect myself against this I proposed to myself to see the losing trades as an investment. Not as a loss but as a modest and responsible investment in a world teeming with opportunities.
Trading doesn’t have to be done alone. We have a great forum on which we can post and shout. But you can also take it a step further and set up a partnership in trading. I have seen several collaborations being set up on the forum. Just as in trading you have to tackle collaboration correctly. As long as you respect the other person, accept criticism and really do something to better yourself something very good can come out of it. You will be able to say: I did this myself, but not alone.
From: The Power of Mindset Trading
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