Working on Me - Risk Taking & Responsibility

 So the more I trade, the more I'm convinced that I'm what needs the most work. I love this concept because it means that there will be personal growth - assuming I can make the changes I need. This does not mean that I shouldn't be learning about the market and how it functions, picking up on patterns, and making  a solid business plan. It means that there's EVEN MORE! I love it. I have been re-reading Tom Hougaard's book and he mentions "In the Zone" by something Douglas I believe and since I hadn't read it yet, I am now pushing through it. It is apparent that Hougaard and Douglas are in the same school of thought that your mental game must be strong or rather be specific to trading in order to make it. I particularly like what was said about being a risk taker and taking responsibility.  I've thought of myself as a risk taker in the past and still do, but the way he explained it made me realize that I need to follow through on my risk taker trait or I'm not really taking a risk (at least not in the winning trader way). He was saying that if you can't accept there is a place you're wrong, or define your risk before getting into a trade, and actually sticking to your stops then you are not really a risk taker. In other words, I struggle with being a risk taker. Luckily I have already realized this and am taking steps to be a better risk taker. I think Annie Dukes book kind of touches on this idea that everything is a risk and has a probability of working or not and your job is to figure this out to the best of your ability and to utilize this information. 

Douglas mentions that many struggle with responsibility in trading and don't accept bad trades or losses or usually anything negative as one's own doing but instead blame the market or other entity from which they got an idea. I feel fortunate to kind of get this one because I'm fairly individualistic and one of the draws for me to the market is that I have to take responsibility for everything. Maybe I was just raised well too (shout out to my parents). Actions have consequences and you make the actions in trading, not someone else. It's not just happenstance that nearly EVERY trader interviewed by Jack Schwager mentions the need to control losses. It's because we can do that! In fact, we HAVE to do it if we are to make it as traders and accept that this is part of our responsibility as traders as part of our business. Losses will be incurred but we control and accept those losses responsibly.

As I write the title, it make me think that once we have control of our losses it is really our responsibility to take risk and where the probabilities are in our favor to risk big (pretty sure Lance B talks about this all the time - I think it's getting through!)!  Cheers!