V is for Virtue
Write your "Trading Virtue Code." A short list of non-negotiable principles that define your Dé as a trader. It might include:
- I will always use a stop-loss.
- I will journal every trade, win or loss.
- I will never risk more than X% on a single trade.
- I will not trade when I am emotionally compromised.
- I will be honest with myself and my trading community.
Read this code before every session. It is your Dé, written in your own hand.
U is for Understanding
At the end of each trading day, in your journal, answer this single question: "What did I understand today that I could not have understood from a book?"
It might be something about the market. It might be something about yourself. It might be something tiny and specific. It doesn't matter. What matters is that you are training yourself to value Ming over mere information.
T is for Timing
At the start of your session, after your stillness practice, ask yourself three timing questions:
1. What Wu Xing season is the market in right now?
2. What line of the hexagram is my potential setup at?
3. What season am I in? Am I rested and clear, or tired and forcing?
Answer honestly. Let the answers determine whether and how you trade.
S is for Simplicity
Take your current trading plan or strategy document. Count the number of rules, conditions, and contingencies. Now, attempt to reduce that number by half without sacrificing the core logic. What can you simplify? What is a "nice to have" rather than a "must have"?
Do the same with your chart. Remove one thing. Trade without it for a week. Notice how much of your mental processing power was being consumed by something you didn't actually need.
