“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.”
-Albert Einstein
“One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity. Simplicity is the key to brilliance.”
–Bruce Lee
One thing that I hear from readers and reviewers of my early Darvas book is that they think it is too simple. They desire more complexity, it can not be that simple to build six figure accounts. Well, all I can say is, “Yes, it is. I have averaged double digit annual returns for over a decade in my trend trading accounts. So I am not discussing theory I am speaking from personal experience. Trading price action does not have to be overly complicated to be successful.
I do not need multiple monitors, complex software, or to actively sit in front of the computer all day. I do need to observe capital flow from chart analysis and take my stops. I do have to let my winners run as far as they will go using trailing stops and cut losses when they are triggered. At the end of the day trading is about being on the right side of capital flow. It is about using charts to buy at key times when the odds are in your favor. Trading is about learning robust methods and principles that make money over the long term and then having the discipline and faith to follow those methods. So much of what traders waste their time on with so-called knowledge from others is little more than the noise of opinions from people without proven trading performance.
If you want to make money in trading go toward making it more simple not more complicated.
-
Keep your trading clean, keep what makes you money discard what does not.
-
Pick a trading style that fits your personality, focus on it and master it.
-
Focus your time on social media to following only people that teach you or show you how to become a better a trader, ignore the ones that do not add noise but little value to your trading.
-
Keep down the noise of others opinions, turn up your focus on price action that is revealed on the charts.
-
Do more of what makes you money, less of what loses you money.
-
Focus your market studies on your trading style not a different method.
-
Decrease the number of indicators that you use to only the most relevant. Price is the ultimate indicator.
-
Quit chasing the Holy Grail of trading, there isn’t one, trading is something you just have to work for. Focus on making yourself a great trader and the money will follow.
-
Write a simple trading plan that anyone can understand with your own rules for a Trading Method, good Risk Management, and the right trading Psychology. Ten for each area is plenty most will not need that much.
-
Focus like a laser on following your own plan, ignore distractions that take you off your own game.
