Chapter 7
Experience
One of the most astute Amazon.com reviews for this book was not intended as a compliment—the reviewer said Mind Over Markets was “too complicated.” Those two words capture the reason why most traders fail, as well as the reason why the book in your hands is still relevant, challenging, and insightful after two decades: It was written for serious traders, and it doesn't purport to be a total solution.
Mind Over Markets is a practical handbook for developing an understanding of market behavior that will help you trade with the odds in your favor. And in the 22 years since it was published (and translated into Chinese and French) the authors have continued on their journeys, delving deeper into practical experience. And so it is experience that this final, fresh chapter is all about; we'll bring the book learning in the preceding chapters into the light of real experience, where real money is won and lost in the market's endless heaving to and fro. The examples we'll employ are simply meant to provide context for the content—the synthesis of the five stages of learning can only happen in practice.
Set Aside Your Expectations
Traders, being human, want markets to be orderly and easily understandable. But if you start with that expectation then you're off on the wrong foot. We're all prone to seeking only what we're looking for, which keeps us from being present for what is actually happening.
Being free from all distractions, he can undertake his practice wholeheartedly. ...
