Confidence Gains Gains
The year was 1984, and I was living in Southern California. I loved to ride my skateboard everywhere I went. That summer I spent most of my time at the bottom of pools and half-pipes, riding what I could, not daring venturing to the top, for it was too high and I had too much fear.
In skateboarding, dropping-in is the method of standing on the tail of the skateboard, hanging over the edge of the empty pool or half-pipe and then stepping on the front of the board so you drop yourself over the edge. I remember spending most of that summer staring over the edge, never actually dropping-in and never realizing the benefits that come from dropping-in because I was too afraid to do it. I always walked down into the bottom of the pool and had to pump myself up, requiring more work and less reward. I finally did drop in at the end of that summer, with an uneventful fall. But I got up and did it again. I could probably do it even to this day because the fear is gone and the confidence remains.
As a new trader, I learned the rules of proper trading. As I became better and gained experience, my trades did too. However, what I learned did not always translate into trading profits. Knowing and doing are two separate things. Confidence in your trades can really translate into more profits. Act on your beliefs! Trying and failing is far less painful than not acting and missing the trades due to fear and lack of action. Confidence is said to breed more confidence. Have faith, trade your rules, and drop-in when the trades present themselves. Life is better when you take a chance, a well-planned and practiced chance, where odds are calculated. Never-the-less, “act or not to act” is the question and the answer.