Finding the trading masterpiece

Reflections on the end of the year

Welcome to the final week of the year.

This is usually a time when my pipe dreams of whatever resolutions I had in January crash into the brick wall of reality.

i.e., I wanted to get X done this year ... but it’s definitely not gonna happen.

😞

But the year hasn’t been a complete bust.

I’ve been more productive this year than I can ever remember.

I think most of that actually happened in the latter half of the year as I started hand-writing my daily and weekly “to-do” lists in a notebook.

I’ve tried digital lists before — thinking that having them always available on my phone would make them work better — but they didn’t take. It turns out that the physical act of writing the list down and then physically crossing out the completed tasks does the trick for me.

Who knew?

I didn’t, but now I do.

Something else:

I’ve gained traction this year by putting together “to don’t” lists.

Someone once asked the great artist Michaelangelo how he sculpted David.

Michelangelo is quoted:

“The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.”

There’s a wonderful lesson in there:

To find the masterpiece, I simply need to remove everything that is NOT the masterpiece.

You can apply this to your own art ... or life ... or business ... or trading.

In fact, the main way I find trades is by looking through a list of possibilities and eliminating all the ones I don’t like.

I usually end up with one or two or three that are worth actually making a trade.

Not every trade is a masterpiece. In fact, few are. But I find it easier to remove trades I don’t like than to force a trade. If there’s nothing worth trading today, that’s fine. I’ll just come back tomorrow.

I don’t think I’ve ever gone two days in a row where I couldn’t find a good-looking trade idea.

I can be patient.

I don’t have to force myself to jump in. I know that in the end things will work out, I will find that trade to make.

Most work, some don’t.

That’s all part of the game.

(A little luck sprinkled in with statistical edges.)

Part of the reason I choose to use such a slow-and-steady strategy is it forces me to take the long-term view on things.

I know that if I follow a proven system long enough, it all works out, eventually.

If you want to learn my system, ask questions directly from me, and see me trade it live using a real account, the link is in the email footer.

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— Ricky Ketchum