Brian McAboy explains how ego sabotages trading decisions and why systematic trading beats discretionary choices. He covers the psychological barriers that keep traders from following their own rules and offers coaching to help traders stay consistent.
Brian McAvoy here with Inside Out Trading. And today I just want to ask you the real simple question. You know, why is discretionary trading a problem? And it really is. And a lot of traders don't realize how big of a problem it is, especially if you know your goal is you just want to get to where you can make consistent profits with your trading, if that's your goal. Discretionary trading is a big problem, and it's likely to impede your progress more than help you get there, at least in a reasonable period of time. And here's, here's what I'm talking about here, and here's why. If consistent profits is your goal and you want consistent, reliable production from your trading, you want to be able to go to the markets and feel comfortable and confident that what you're doing is going to produce winners more so than losers. So hence, you know, end of the weekend of the month, you're making money. Well, the thing is, if you're a discretionary trader, then you're a variable in your overall process. And then trading already has enough variables. I mean, that's part of what makes it so challenging. It's a very dynamic environment with a lot of variables. A lot of things can be working against you. And if you're a discretionary trader, you're a variable. You don't want to be a variable. You want to be a constant. And so the reason I bring this up is I've had some people come to me lately, you know, for coaching help, and I ask them to send me, you know, what it is they're doing with their trading. Just, you know, so I know where they're at and how they're operating, and I'll look at it. And they're discretionary trading. And the problem is, and here's why it's so hard to be consistent with it, you're a discretionary trader. I mean, let's get clear on the terms. Discretionary trading means that part, at least part of the time, if not most of the time, it's just kind of looking at the charts and looking to take advantage of whatever the charts are presenting you, whether it's move up, move down, move sideways, whatever. But you're kind of, you're going to kind of decide what to do or how to respond based on what you see. You don't have a very clear and specific, very mechanical method. And that's why it's a problem, because if you're just looking at the charts and you're kind of interpreting when you look at the charts, first thing that happens is you're going to take in information and you're going to interpret what that information, what the chart is telling you. Well, if you've been having a rough couple of days, maybe woke up not feeling so great, I mean, maybe you're having troubles with your significant other, whatever, if you're just feeling, you know, not so great, that can influence how you interpret what you see in the charts and it might give it a very pessimistic or negative bias. Whereas, hey, maybe, you know, yesterday was excellent, you know, you had a really great dinner, you had sex last night, you know, man, today you're just feeling awesome. You're going to look at the charts and interpret things, maybe even the same chart, but you're going to interpret it in a much more optimistic manner. And so that will of course influence your decisions and how you take action. And that variability again is what works against you if what you're looking for as an output is consistency. So really what you want to do, until you've really wired yourself, you've had a good spell of success, you really want to be a systematic and methodical trader where you're working with a consistent process, not discretionary, but very clear and well defined process. And so then that's what I teach you how to do, is how to, you know, define and document your process so that it will get you consistent results. Then we test it, then we build your confidence and your skill trading it. And that's, that's how I help you if you want to come work with me. And that's, that's what my coaching does. In a nutshell. It basically it lets you know that you can go to the markets and you have a consistent process that you can count on and you know what to expect from it and you know that you're solid trading, you know that you can go and you can execute it the way it's supposed to be executed. Which again is one of the challenges. Even if you do have a good system and it is a reasonably well defined system, if you aren't able to execute it consistently, then again a variable that's going to, you know, hurt your results. Hey there. If you're enjoying this content, I know you'll love my live workshop. My live workshop we look at consistency, maximizing profit and how to be a successful trader. It's a really good live workshop. We interact, we do Q and A. And so it's a little bit different from regular content. It's actually more of an interaction. If you'd like to come and join me. There'll be a link somewhere down below. Now let's get back to this video. Main thing is for now, you know, keep things simple. Don't be a discretionary trader where you know, what you do during a given month might be 50 different things just because the market presents you so many different things. No, you want to be a very systematic, methodical trader where you can go and you can just go do your thing. You're very good at it. It's almost routine, but you're good at it and it produces consistent results. That's the end goal, right? You want to go to the markets, you want to be comfortable, not a big emotional ride. Get consistent results and at the end of the month you're making money. That's the whole goal, right? Okay. So don't be a discretionary trader. If you've been struggling, if you've been having a little bit of a rough time with your trading, maybe you've been at it for a while and you're having a tough time getting those consistent results. Either you don't have a good system or you're just having trouble executing consist or whatever and you'd like to, you know, talk with somebody who understands what you're going through and you know, we can sort out what it is specifically that's interfering with your trading, making it difficult for you. Well, swing by InsideOutTrading.com and book a call with me and we'll talk about your situation and what's getting in your way and your best path forward to get past it and on to good, consistent, productive, profitable trading. So if you found this video helpful, share it with your friends. You know, subscribe and you know, give me a like down below. Let the YouTube algorithm know that, you know, this is one they should be presenting to people and you know, favoring the YouTube gods. So and you know, and also just if somebody inside out trading a call with me, I also have some free resources for you there. It'll help you with your trading, help you settle down, help you get homed in and become a good trader. So again, I hope this has been helpful. Talk to you soon. Cheers.
