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Whether we’re talking EWT, Fibonacci, Donchian Channels or indeed Trend Jumper, the trading strategies and

market analysis techniques a trader uses are rarely original.

Ideas from seasoned traders and market technicians wax and wane in

popularity as the next revelation becomes hot.

Knowing that traders often cling to their once reliable strategies way

beyond their sell-by dates and at the same time people are constantly dropping methods in favor of the

latest and greatest that the trading world has to offer, demonstrates an

important (and obvious) fact:

FACT: the traders who are constantly seeking new methods are not

achieving particularly good results with the ones they currently use.

If they were, why would they be

actively seeking to change to a new method at all?

The problem is that people are not taking full ownership of their trading.

They might accept that it’s their choice when to take a trade and to exit, but

there are many traders who fail to really get to the heart of what makes a

strategy tick.

Conversely, the traders who make a living from this profession make it

their business to become experts in their understanding and execution of a strategy. They know when it’s good to

push their trading in certain advantageous situations and when it’s

a good time to step back.

They do this because trading is like a constantly unfolding story, where you can never quite be sure what’s going to happen – one where you need to have your wits about you and always

be assessing the incoming data.

Observing and testing, then making minor alterations where necessary.

In contrast to the professional who has in essence emulated someone else’s strategy and adapted it to suit many different shifting factors, there are

traders who are constantly trying to find a perfect system.

Observations of the stereotypical nature of this kind of trader (or phase of a trader) include for

example a feeling of never having enough knowledge and always wanting confirmation

from an “expert”. And although this is natural up to a point, there comes a time when a trader

needs to take responsibility for their trading and make a strategy their own.

You are the one who clicks the mouse and the immediacy of trading is such that when it’s time to act, you are the one who decides to take or pass on a

trade – nobody is going to do it for you. Traders live and die by the

decisions that they make in real time.

An implicit understanding of a method allows you to trade your plan

seamlessly.

But the strategy or method itself can be thought of as a framework around

which a plan is formed.

Although making changes for the sake of it isn’t always desirable, if you spot

something that might make it more profitable when trading Crude Oil or avoids

trades in the Bund where probabilities clearly drop significantly, then test your theories and define rules to incorporate

them into your plan.

It’s these nuances and knowhow that can really make the difference

between a solid strategy in theory and a profitable performance in practice.

Taking absolute responsibility for your trading destiny and the results you get

is the first step to take.

This might seem pretty obvious, but it’s amazing how many people

meander about without having laid down a clear path to achieve their

vision of trading success (if they even have a clear vision of success).

Once you’ve defined a path for getting where you want to be, you’ll

automatically start to critically assess everything you do, see or read. You’ll

start to question what’s in front of you and whether it helps or hinders you.

With this mindset, you’ll begin to fully appreciate the true nature of a

strategy and see its strengths and inevitable weaknesses as all the “non-signals” play out in front of your eyes.

Accepting that a technique isn’t always going to produce a winning trade is also

essential. There is no perfection in trading.

Markets are always changing day by day depending on who’s active in them.

They shift over time as fundamentals change and old participants drop out

with new traders with new trading ideas enter the marketplace.

Being okay with this is part of taking

responsibility for your plan.

But there are also times when with a deep understanding of your trading plan and its

interaction with the market, can help generate specific rules and ideas to adapt with the

shifting trading sands.

Take ownership of your trading and the tools you already have can be the foundations for

your success.