Having been with the Van Tharp Institute for over a decade now, I’ve had the privilege to teach, coach and get to know more than 1,000 traders. Watching some traders succeed quickly while others needed more time to struggle their way through, I came to understand what is really important – or better – crucial, to become a great trader.
These common and very important factors—let’s call them The Key Success Factors, or KSF, can be reduced to only a dozen. You basically want to make a tick for all of them to fully uncover your trader potential.
Being a break-even trader already – or maybe not yet – ticking off just one of those KSF (that had not yet been considered) might turn you into a consistent and successful trader. I guess it is obvious that if you want to win a Formula1 race, you need an advanced car with an edge. Hence, applied to trading, you need a good trading system. Better yet, several systems that complement each other.
But a system with an edge is only the start of becoming successful, just as winning a race would be too easy to be reduced to having a good F1 car. Van always stated, “It is not the system that trades the markets, but the trader!”.
Unfortunately, the big majority of traders out there are not aware of these important factors. They believe they can compete and win a race without proper preparation. Clearly, it is:
- NOT about sitting in front of the screen for many hours per day
- NOT about having the goal to maximize your Weekly R-result
- NOT about trading the markets right away and trade whatever moves
- And NOT about getting euphoric & emotional when trading the markets
Check out all of the other KSFs that go beyond the system and evaluate for yourself which important factors you are missing. You’ll find an overview below and additional information for each of those Key Success Factors. And let me know what you discover!
Key Success Factor Spotlight: Set a Clear Trading Goal (VIDEO)
Most traders shoot for a maximum-R result. But it’s never enough. A trader feels like they could have always “done better”.
In this five-minute video, Gabriel focuses on KSF #2 and explains why having a clear trading goal is included in this important list.
https://youtu.be/lxtNJy0svS0