profitable trading = simply not doing stupid shit on the chart.

I'm starting to believe that consistent profitable trading = simply not doing stupid shit on the chart.

What I mean by that is, we often look for the perfect setup that we can trade every single day. We want to find the best strategy that will eliminate the guessing game and finally put us on the "other side" where we're consistently profitable.

But maybe profitability is more of a state of mind than a strategy.

Yes, having a strategy is important, but even if you take the exact same setup every day, the results will be different because the market moves differently every day. Some days close red, some green. Some days have huge volatility, while others are small and choppy.

I keep seeing people here saying they're lost after trading for a few years, and I was very lost myself. Now I have my strategy, but I've realized that as long as you can identify the direction and stop doing stupid shit on the chart, you have a chance of becoming profitable.

For me, "stupid shit" is:

• Averaging down on a loser
• Revenge trading
• Entering because I just want to be involved in the market
• The "house money" effect. being up $200 and thinking, "I have extra money to lose today, so I might as well make more." (Still working on this one.)
• And, of course, the mother of them all: overtrading.

The list goes on.

Maybe the real skill of trading isn't becoming a better guesser or finding the perfect strategy. Maybe it's simply learning to control yourself and stop making stupid mistakes every day.

And honestly, that's scary. You never know when that day is going to come.

What's even scarier is knowing that every day you have to be aware of it.

Usually, though, that fear disappears once I'm actually watching the chart and feeling the market. It's only in hindsight, when I think about it, that I realize how dangerous it can be.