A big part of the volume of information in Level 3 has been about application.
Keep in mind that this book is packed full of great trading knowledge, however, the real value of the book is in what you “do” with the knowledge. This is actually a training program more than an educational program. So while the book can be read in hours, you are looking at weeks and months to complete the training program. Training requires that you take action, get feedback, and act on that feedback, just like anything else in life.
You will find that you will be able to use the ideas in this program to accomplish some of the most difficult tasks in life. How do I eat better? How do I sleep better? How do I exercise more? No longer do you need to subscribe to a program. You are unique. You need to get to know yourself, create a training program, and begin. And the first training program you create is not likely to succeed. You will need to make notes and review, and find a way to achieve your goals. But if you don’t have a plan, you don’t write anything down, and you aren’t at least consistent in your efforts, you aren’t likely to change anything.
Now that you are in level 3, you are going to have more time. Instead of trading any setup you see that looks good, you are defining what you are looking for. This is going to free up a lot of time for you. Naturally some will have interests. I have included a lot of knowledge in level 3 for you to consider and follow on your charts.
The first step is to simply execute your plan. If the trade fits your plan, take the trade. If it does not fit your plan, do not take the trade. This will probably take you up to three series to get right. Some will get eager, taking trades with their sight slightly distorted by emotion. Some will not take a trade for the same reason. Again, go line by line through your plan and see if the trade fits your plan. If it does, take the trade.
Let’s imagine for the next 5 months, you feel very strongly that you have your plan clearly in your mind, and also feel there is no need to look at it. I believe that you just wasted 5 months. Remember you are building a new neural network for decision making. Recalling a single memory is not at all reinforcing this network. Go line by line each time, and just get this done, is my suggestion.
If you see a trade you like, but it doesn’t fit your rules, feel free to take it, but observe the procedure of writing “documented” at the top of your comments, and describe what you see. This could give you some good practice with nuances.
If you are just plain eager to trade all of the time, then do what I suggested and take up online poker, or a video game like Destiny. This is just an emotional need you have, and trying to get it fed in Forex is just going to be counter-productive.
Remember that half of the battle is getting to know yourself. Okay 90% of the battle is getting to know yourself, lol.
Level 3 is about defining your plan, executing that plan, gaining experience, becoming aware of nuances in your method. The process I have explained in Level 3 is designed to help you get a good plan, execute that plan, and learn from your experience. In this way, your ability to execute and your ability to assess probabilities and risk go way up, and you end up finding a balance. This will happen naturally if you follow the program.
If you find you are sitting for a few weeks without taking a trade, you need to share this with someone and see if your plan is too rigid.
When is the right time to move to level 4? This is easy for me as a mentor because I have followed a trader through the entire process. Some take longer, and some are faster. What do I look for?
Well, traders will begin seeing different nuances. Maybe they see that they need a different entry rule in a context. But the trader does this based on their own experience. This will show up in their comments. “I think I need a rule about not trading during Non-Farm.” They were trading, following their plan, and got stopped out in one minute on the release of that HID.
The best thing that I can tell you as you are doing this self-study/community supported program is this: make sure that you make changes to your plan based only on your
experience, not something you learned from someone else.
This was “your baby” the moment you created your level 3 trading plan. No one can teach you how to trade, just as no one can ride a bicycle for you. There is the logic, and then you practicing and learning from the experience.
When to move to level 4? Some traders are seeing nuances by the third series. Some don’t even begin thinking about nuances until 7 series.
Remember that 8 hours a day of focus time will not get you completed faster than 2 hours. In fact, with the imbalance you will experience with family and health, it is very likely to take you much longer to become successful. When we do not attend to all of the values that
are important in life, we unconsciously self-sabotage.
I’m just trying to cover some of the bases here. The more you work on yourself personally, the faster you will reach your goal in Forex trading. I have suggested The Four
Agreements. I also suggest The Power of Now. It’s probably one of the best books I have
ever read on being present, with far less of the spiritual mumbo jumbo you usually get with that subject. I’m not meaning to offend anyone. I just think that if you are unconsciously
biting your fingernails and you become conscious that you are doing it, you now have more consciousness. If you are more conscious, you will know when you can bend
or break a rule, such as walking under a ladder.
Always remember that everyone thought the world was flat not that long ago. Take counsel, but remember that you are your own authority. It might be good to also keep in mind that
with all our advancements in the field of nuclear energy, all they are really doing is boiling water with those nuclear rods. And that’s probably a good place to stop.
Because the final level is called You Are in Command, I’m not going to say not to read level 4, but I can tell you that it simply doesn’t apply to you right now. But I think most will read ahead anyhow. I probably would, lol.
Naturally any feedback is welcomed and appreciated. Did you find errors? Did I miss an important idea? Just let me know!
Introduction to Level 4
In the introduction in level 2, I mentioned that one of the core 3 Art of War principles is this: You are in Command.
Independence
Over the years, I have noticed a pattern in life. I noticed that whether it is a parent/child or student/mentor relationship, there comes a point in time. In my experience, it appears biological. We see it in a relationship with our kids. As they enter their teens, they can become rebellious, even seeing the parent as someone who does not care, and this can eventually cause both the parent and the young person to be quite at odds with one another.
Years ago, I was training a trader – a man who I had a great deal of respect for. He was quite talented, had a PHD, and was independently wealthy. I want to be clear that this was not a person who went to school, got a PHD, and went out into the world. This was
someone who became very successful, and pursued a PHD in the field of psychology later, to learn more insights about life and himself. We had a wonderful time working together, and he contributed to several important ideas that you benefit from today in this book. I never name him, because he asked me not to. But we worked together for about a year. Then one day, he told me he was going to be away for a while, going off to do some things on his own. I didn’t think a lot about it. I thought maybe he was talking about a month or something like that. Well I didn’t hear from him for just over a year. Then out of the blue, I my phone rang, and it was him. He said, “Vance I have been meaning to call you for a while and share something with you.”
I was very happy to hear from him and had no idea what he was about to tell me. He said, “You may not know this, but when I left a year ago, I was very angry at you.” I replied, “No I didn’t know that.”
He chuckled happily and continued, “Yes I was. I came to the conclusion that you had not taught me how to trade, and I was angry. So I decided to do it my own way. I came up with my own system, and posted my live trades in a public forum for a year, in real time, to hold myself accountable. I made it work and became successful. The reason why I started out
laughing is because when I did become successful, I realized that I had done what you told me I needed to do, and not only that, much of my trading method is based on what you taught me in the early parts of the program. But more importantly I came to see that it wasn’t the information that was the issue. I saw that I was blaming you for not being
successful. I was not taking personal responsibility. This was apparent in my words and actions.
He paused, and I thought about what he said. My mind went right to “I was not taking responsibility.” You see, I had assumed that someone so accomplished in so many areas of life would have been doing so.
As my daughter, Jordan hit 16, 17 and 18 years of age, I realized that there was a pattern in these types of relationships. At some point in the teacher/student relationship, the student needs to break away. If no one is breaking away, life will break you apart. I then looked back on my own life and saw the same pattern with two of my teachers I loved the most. I realized that prior to the unfortunate events that separated us, I was, in a way, dependent upon them.
When I began with the Forex Art of War teaching program years back, I kept this in mind. I knew that I would need for traders to maintain as much independence as possible, always pushing for their autonomy. Largely this has been successful. There was one incidence where I had a total falling out. I saw it coming, I recognized what was happening, but there was little I could do. Maybe I’ll get that phone call one day. In the case of that trader,
they found themselves “pressured to produce,” something you want to avoid completely.
Like many of the most important moments in our lives, we don’t tend to see these things coming. They usually catch us by surprise. Level 4 is not just about trading a live account. Level 4 is also about fully taking ownership of your Forex trading. Absolutely no one else can tell you how to do it, what to think, or how to succeed at this point. If you don’t make
this shift, part of you will always be waiting for “that next idea” that is going to make it all work. And the truth is that you don’t need any more ideas. You need to rise or fall
completely on your own.
You still have a few things to learn, which I’ll be discussing. Just remember that as you go forward, you are still likely to fall, learn, and get up again a few times – especially when you
push outside of your current comfort zone. You just have to be willing to do it. This is why it is important that you limit the size of your account right now. You want to have flesh in the game, so to speak, but nothing that would harm you or your family’s lifestyle if you were to lose it.
You want to begin making the transition from learning, to creating. You have always been creating your future, but your future in Forex is completely in your hands. Do not think of people in Forex (including me) as your teacher. We are people on equal ground. The best thing that myself or anyone can do for you now, is be a sounding board. Most of the time we will not even need to tell you anything at all. Most of the time you just need to
express what you are experiencing.
Did I teach you how to trade in this program? No. I taught you the variables that affect your probability of winning a trade. I taught you where to look for the best information for your decisions. I taught you how to retrain your mind to make decisions in a different way. That was a small part. You did everything else. Does a great racecar driver imagine that his teacher is responsible for his victory? No.
Does an Olympic athlete standing on a podium say, “I cannot accept this gold medal, my coach is really responsible.” No.
If you look at anything great, the coach plays an important role in the success, but in the end, it is really YOU.
I taught you WHAT and HOW, but YOU did it. And now there is not much I can teach you. You need to rely on your experience and your tools. So I’m saying that now, this is your baby.
By now you are used to me going right to the psychology, and you understand that there is nothing more important than how you use your mind, when it comes to getting the results we want in life.
This next point is VERY IMPORTANT: It is really important that you are under no
pressure to produce results. It works in competitive situations, and where rewards are
linked to straight forward objectives, but it is well known that there are two situations it does not work well for as an incentive.
1. * Improve skills and encourage innovation 2. *Foster competence
Hmm.. isn’t that what you are doing here?
But the more obvious problem is that if we are pressured to produce, we tend to narrow our focus, and the first thing to go is holistic thinking. “You don’t have time for the best path. You have to get this done now.”
The best place to be is to have no time limit at all. Hopefully you are building this skill while not needing to rely on the skill in the foreseeable future. And this is not about time. It’s about having the right mindset.
You’ll notice that level 4 does not have very much content compared to the previous two levels. The reality is that there is not much I can teach you about trading a live account that I haven’t already shared with you. That said, let’s finish up.