The following is a post from rs, a poster from a time back:

I respect Alex a lot for not regulating and stifling expression from posters who prefer to use this as an outlet for their anger. Anytime I have encountered a trader who is angry about something, I have found he is misdirecting his energy. But anytime I have encountered an arena that is regulated and stifled by rules and fear of expression, the results are worse.

An angry trader should focus on what he wants to do and how to improve it. Anger is an impediment to success. This is true even if he is angry at injustice, political abuse, etc.

I have know a lot of traders in my life. I have only known 2 (yes TWO with a capital T, W, O and I am not one of them) who have never had a losing year. Neither of them were angry persons. They were aggressive and always accepted their limitations. They decided what they were going to do and never let another person or the market decide for them what to do.

I don't care for political rhetoric much and I just tune it out as I have always done in any environment I find myself. My reason is personal. I made a strict decision to be absolutely politically neutral when I was 15 years old and have never regretted it. I do not attempt to coerce another person to do what I decided, but it works very well for me and for that, I am very happy. My father was a P-51 fighter pilot in WW2 and two of my older brothers were in the armed services in the Vietnam war and each of these loved ones of mine viewed my decision with deep respect and support.

All of the above preludes these points:

If a trader wishes to be successful, he has to realize that his definition for success should not be dictated by another person. He should stand for who he is and what he believes and act accordingly. By being true to himself, this alone makes him a successful man or woman.

This means that if he knows he does not have the energy to put a certain trade on, he is successful by resisting the urge to put it on. If he is convinced a decision is correct and then realizes he is wrong, he has to use courage and reverse field even if this means others will criticize him.

I have never known a successful trader who was successful predicting the future on a regular basis.

I have met monetarily successful traders who were class A proctologist specimens, but they were successful for the buck in spite of being who they were, not because of it. Being at peace with yourself and your loved ones is not only a great barometer for success, but assists in money-making decisions.

This one will surprise some traders and alert others: Losing at trading is much more exciting than winning.

Being willing to turn on a dime will work for the good in the large sample size.

Being patient will win in the large sample size.

Making love to your wife is much more important for successful trading than knowing the latest S and D numbers will ever be.

Pornography will destroy your view of trading much more than being blindsided by a reversing market will ever do.

Knowing yourself is much more important than knowing a market if one wishes to be a successful trader financially.

Scratching a trade is usually harder to accept than losing. Scratching should, therefore, be embraced.

Selling things for more than you pay for them will grant financial success. The order in which this is done has absolutely nothing to do with predicting the future.

Anyone who gets involved with predicting entry and exit points is a fool. Anyone who wrangles with a person seeking such information is a bigger one.

Compare trading to a horse race. Avoid putting all your money on the horse you believe has the best chance. Instead, place a bet on each of the horses and look for opportunities during the race to scratch the bets on the stragglers as you watch the race unfold. In the end, you will be holding the winning ticket.

Keep your grieving over losses to a minimum. Grieve for less than a minute and move on.

Start each day with a blank sheet of paper.

Offsetting a trade is the most important part, emphasis on THE, of the trade. Take the side of the trade that will work towards that advantage. This means, look to be long sellers' markets and short a buyers' market. The advantage will play to your hand in the large sample size.

Learn to discern when the last statement I just made is no longer working and do the opposite. This is how tops and bottoms unfold.

Strive to be early rather than late.

Learn to distinguish the difference between wanting to trade and needing to trade. A farmer needs to trade his grain. A spec does not need to put on a position. He only needs to trade once his trade is on.

Recognize that a long is actually a seller and a short is actually a buyer. This is because the offset is the very next step each needs to do.

Pyramiding tends to blur and confuse the view of the previous statement.

Putting on a trade where and when each side is equally conceding is a crapshoot. Your money is just as well spent betting at the run-out tables in Vegas as it is equally conceding with the other side of the trade.

Avoid taking risks. Make the other guy do that.

Avoid gambling at all costs in any form.

Never let anyone tell you who you are. Know yourself and be true to that knowledge.

I have a lot more to say, but this should suffice for now.