Your tradeplan
Your trading career stands or falls by having a good trading plan, this is what most traders lack. In the book you learn how to create a trade plan and how to make it as realistic as possible with the help of S.M.A.R.T. goals. The book also contains a template of such a trading plan. You can of course fill this in to your own trading style.
A nice saying from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is:
“A goal without a plan is just a wish”
Below is a selection from Chapter 9: Your Trade Plan.
Your tradeplan.
S.M.A.R.T stands for:
Specific (specific)
Measurable (measurable)
Achievable (achievable)
Relevant (relevante)
Time Bound (timebound)
Specific:
A specific goal is much easier to achieve than a general goal. You can compare this, for example, with losing weight. Losing weight can be a general goal that you want to lose a lot of weight. A specific goal will be: “I want to lose 10 kilos in the next three months by training four times a week. Do you see the difference? So you want to have a specific goal for your plan.
Measurable:
A measurable goal says something about how much you want to lose weight, and when you know, you have achieved your goal. For example, a measurable goal will be: I want to earn a lot of money this year by trading. But how much is very much? "A lot" is not something you can measure. And when do you know when you have achieved your goal? An example of a well measurable goal: I want to make a 10 percent profit over my entire investment in the next six months. That does not sound like a high goal, but for a starting trader, that is not a bad goal and certainly achievable.
Achievable:
A novice trader will not swim in money. In fact, you will find it difficult to break even. So setting a feasible goal is important. For example, doubling your entire portfolio in 3 months is not a feasible goal, and certainly not for a starting trader. But gaining 10 percent on your total investment is certainly a viable goal and something you can do.
Relevant:
A relevant goal is something that is relevant to you. You do not choose a goal that other people have as a goal. A relevant goal answers the following three questions:
Is this goal important to me?
Does this goal make it worth the effort that I put into it?
Do I have the time and motivation to achieve this goal?
If the answer to these questions is yes, you have a relevant goal. The goal must be relevant to YOU. If you have a goal that is not relevant, then it will not matter to you whether or not you will reach the goal.
Time bound:
Having a goal without a time limit does not motivate you to work towards that goal. You will see that you will lose motivation and focus. That is why it is important that you set yourself a time goal.
Let's prepare the first part of your plan.
