When Less Equates to More

How do you know when less equates to more?

As a novice trader, I studied every theory under the sun. And used every technical indicator. I introduced as much noise into my strategies thinking that more was best.
Surely everything combined would ensure all bases were covered? It was a ridiculous assumption.

It was some years on before I realised that reducing the number of trading decisions was the direction I should have been heading.

The next decision was what to take out of the quagmire of strategies to relieve me of the distracting noise, contradictions and confusion.

You might say ‘keep the things that were working and discard the things that weren’t’.

Yet this ended up being harder than it sounds. Especially as at different stages, everything more or less had a moment of glory.
Ultimately what I had to do was refine everything down to what suited my personality type. What strategies sat comfortably with me as a person, within my strengths and weaknesses. So as soon as I was able to define this more clearly, things started to change for the better.

With less noise and clutter, I was able to clearly assess where other blockages were coming from. Then rectify these as well. Problems included my constant urge to micro manage trades. The solution to this ended up being very simple. TURN OFF THE SCREENS.

Plan the trade through correct position sizing and risk management. Then place the trade, and TURN OFF THE SCREENS.

Yes, it took discipline, yet it stopped me obsessing over every tick. As well as seeing things that were not really happening. Or overriding what were already well executed trades.

The rest then came down to experience. Once you have experienced a variety of trading conditions, you will then become more immune to the ups and downs of the markets. And also become more accepting of things like trading losses for example.

So when is the right time?

You’ll also learn when it’s the right time to be involved in the markets and when it’s the right time to be sitting on the sidelines. This may be a good time to head out for a fish, a surf or swim, or perhaps a round of golf. Sometimes the best strategy is doing nothing.

P.S If you would like to be able to design, build and trade your own systems, take a look at our Beginners Guide To Building Trading Systems course.