What keeps you from being consistently profitable?

[Trader J]

I posted this poll to get an impression on the issues most traders face. A lot has been written about the psychology of traders. Because it was emphasized so much I started many years ago with the psychological aspects of trading only to realize that for me it was not a problem. As soon as I realized my discretionary trading had a positive expectancy and was repeatable, the attention to "psychological issues" disappeared. I had been focusing on the wrong things. I hope others can learn from this as well.
For those interested, attached is a good article from Dr Van Tharp.

 

[rathcoole_exile]

Why do so many people insist on spelling 'lose' with two o's.

I lose money, my trousers are loose.

I blame it on the Labour government; they've dumbed down educashun to a ridiculous level.. no spelling, no grammar, no discipline.

cuz der fick an talk like dat innit

 

[meanreversion]

I posted this poll to get an impression on the issues most traders face. A lot has been written about the psychology of traders. Because it was emphasized so much I started many years ago with the psychological aspects of trading only to realize that for me it was not a problem. As soon as I realized my trading had a positive expectancy and was repeatable, the attention to "psychological issues" disappeared. I had been focusing on the wrong things. I hope others can learn from this as well.
For those interested, attached is a good article from Dr Van Tharp.

This is the main reason for developing a fully mechanical system, it does away with (much of the) emotion. This is how to develop a statistical edge, and knowing how it has performed in the past under given market conditions enables one to trade through the drawdown.

Walk forward testing is useful as well.. if your in-sample data is 5 years, and out-of-sample 1 year, you shouldn't expect drawdown in o-o-s to exceed 20 pct of i-s. Anyhow, the software to test all this is powerful and cheap these days.

If you're trading a system, the market clearly isn't out to get you, as it really doesn't care about you. When people think the market is out to get them, it's really a manifestation of self-destructive tendencies. I should know, I've been there many times..

 

[positivelypower]

The most important characteristic of yours i.e. confidence starts working against you in the form of over-confidence. You set aside your cautiousness, rules and sanity. Thus, transforming a winner into a looser.

What keeps you from being consistently profitable?
Fear of loosing money? Are you afraid to loose? Fear of failure? Fear of success?
Lack of funds? You (think you) don't have enough trading capital? How much, in your opinion do you need?
No written trading plan. Trading is a business. Do you have a written plan?
Lack of knowledge. What is needed to bring you up to speed? What specific knowledge are you looking for?
Lack of Exits. It is fear that that prevents us from entering a trade, or fear of losing money. However, it is the Exits that really confront us with a profit or loss.
Psychological issues. Trading is about a belief system. Your perception of what is going on. What are the problems related to trading that need to be addressed to make you a consistently profitable trader?
Other: maybe there are other things you would like to discuss?
On the poll you can choose more than 1 option.
If you write a reply, please try to write for yourself (what you need to become a successful trader), not in general (what "one" needs).