I am an impatient person. When I shop, I have no time for dawdlers. You know the ones. They walk around the supermarket, mouths open, buying the same things they bought last week and the week before, yet they amble around oblivious to their surroundings as if it’s their first ever time shopping. Driving is the same. I have no time for people who are indecisive. For example, when you pull up to a roundabout and there are three or four people all looking at the driver to their right. ‘Someone just make a damn decision. No? Okay I’ll go then.’
But it doesn't stop there. When reading an article about a subject I have minimal knowledge on and I’m looking to broaden that knowledge, I will tend to skim read it until something catches my eye that I think is what I really want from it.
The problem is, this is not a very conducive nor productive mindset to have when it comes to learning a new skill. I am not very good at starting with the fundamentals of something and getting those down before I attempt to move on. Instead, I tend to jump ahead and skip great chunks of boring but oh so very necessary practice and then expect to be great at something in little to no time at all, and when I'm not, I get frustrated.
Take for example learning Spanish. I have read several books and numerous articles covering how to learn Spanish. What words to learn first, the most commonly used word lists, grammar, different learning styles and so on, essential everyday verbs and their conjugations. But even after a few years I am far, far from even having a semblance of fluency (conversational not native). There are many organisations both private and governmental who quote various time frames and hours required to reach a level of fluency, from FSI to Rosetta Stone. But in realistic real-world terms most teachers of Spanish say between 8 -12 months practicing for a minimum of 1 hour per day to achieve nearly 90% conversational fluency. So why am I not fluent then? On reflection I think it is because I didn’t start with the fundamentals, so I didn’t build a basic foundation. My study was consistent when it came to using Anki (spaced repetition) and creating new flash cards, but I neglected listening practice, certainly never tried to read an article or magazine in Spanish, and my only speaking practice came when using the flash cards. One of my best friends is Spanish whom I see every week, yet we've never even tried to have a conversation in Spanish!
Now however I realise that my way of learning is flawed and so will never truly yield results and will only serve to compound and amplify my frustration. So, things must change. I have to put in the time learning the fundamentals, and then build upon that knowledge once it has become almost second nature. So, what does this involve?
Let’s take Spanish again as an example.
What is the Spanish alphabet? What are the basic pronunciations? What are the basic grammar rules? What is a noun? What is an adjective? What is a conjunction? What is a preposition? Granted I know that these last questions are mostly grammar related, but they are the basis of language. This is where I should start if I am to attain the level of fluency that I dream of. English is my native language, yet I have no idea what the difference is between a preposition and an adverb? The trouble is I don’t need this knowledge to speak English on a daily basis as I can do it without thinking, but when it comes to learning Spanish, as there are different grammar rules when learning to speak or write, this information is important if I want to be understood and to understand.
Trading is the same. I have been too quick to jump into actually trading and yet cannot easily and accurately identify simple candle patterns like an Evening Star or a Bullish Harami. These are the fundamentals of price action trading as I am using a candlestick chart, so it should be expected that I can identify a simple candle or a pattern when I see one, what went into its formation, and what does it potentially signify? Yet I can’t. But here I am trading anyway, slowly bleeding away money and getting annoyed and frustrated when a trade moves against me or I ‘read’ the market completely wrong.
But when I stop, as I have done in particular this last week, take a step back and look at my situation as a whole, it makes no sense to get frustrated. I've only been 'trading' 2 months and honestly, I don't really know with a 100% confidence exactly what I am doing or why I'm doing it, and on top of that, I've not worked on the psychological aspect of trading at all, and this makes up a HUGE part of being successful. Not just in trading, but in anything!
The problem comes back to impatience. I want to make money now. I want to be able to quit my job as soon as possible. I want the freedom in my life to work on my terms, my time frame. I want to move out of where I live and buy a house, a car etc. I want freedom.
But to get good at anything takes time. It takes deliberate and structured practice, beginning with the fundamentals. So, with this in mind I decided I would take the last week off of trading. Sure, I’ve observed the markets from time to time, but no trades have been placed. I’ve read and studied, admittedly not as much as I would like, but I’ve begun to lay the foundations. It’s not glamorous but it’s necessary.
I’m also going to start over again with Spanish. I’m going to strip it back to the very basic beginnings, fundamental by fundamental.
I need to realise and accept that patience is the key….to everything.
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