Michael Lamothe

I help traders succeed by aligning their mindset & skillset | Author of The Trading Mindwheel | On Mark Minervini’s Coaching Team (MPA) | ⬇️ Get the Book

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

@PatrickWalker56 When I look at others, I remind myself that Christ loves them. Therefore, so should I.

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

Your last trade is data...

Not a definition.

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

One of the fastest ways to stop improving is to take every mistake personally.

"I broke a rule..."
becomes...
"I'm undisciplined!"

"I took a loss..."
becomes...
"I'm a bad trader!"

THOSE AREN'T THE SAME THING.

One is feedback.
The other is self-judgment.

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

One of the fastest ways to stop improving is to take every mistake personally.

"I broke a rule..."
becomes...
"I'm undisciplined!"

"I took a loss..."
becomes...
"I'm a bad trader!"

THOSE AREN'T THE SAME THING.

One is feedback.
The other is self-judgment.

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

PSA: A losing trade tells you what happened.

It doesn't tell you who you are.

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

Most traders judge a trade by the result.

It made money.
Or it lost money.

That seems reasonable... After all, the goal is to make money, right?

The problem is that sometimes a great trade loses money.

The setup was sound.
The risk was managed.
The execution was clean...
The market simply didn't cooperate.

...And sometimes a terrible trade makes money!

A rule gets ignored.
A stop gets moved.
A position gets oversized.
And the stock goes up anyway.

If you judge those trades only by the outcome, you learn the wrong lesson.

The losing trade looks bad...
The winning trade looks good...
But the opposite may be true.

That's why great traders focus on decision quality.

They ask:
Did I follow my process?
Did I manage risk correctly?
Did I execute according to plan?

Those questions are far more important than what happened on any single trade.
Because decisions are repeatable.
Outcomes are not.

Over time, good decisions tend to produce good results.
Not on every trade.
Not every week.
Sometimes not even every month.

But over a large enough sample, the relationship becomes clear.

The challenge is that most traders never get there.

They keep changing their behavior based on short-term outcomes.

Chasing what worked.
Avoiding what didn't.
Instead of evaluating the quality of the decision itself.

That's why consistency starts with a shift in focus.
From outcomes...
To decisions!!!

Because the outcome tells you what happened.
The decision tells you what to repeat.

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

Evaluating a single trade can be so misleading... The market doesn't grade your decisions immediately.

Sometimes it rewards bad behavior.
Sometimes it punishes good behavior.

A sample of one never tells the whole story.

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

The question we want to ask ourselves isn't:

"Did I make money?"

It's:
"If this exact setup appeared tomorrow...
would I trade it the same way?"

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

One of the fastest ways to stall your growth is to reward bad decisions that happen to work.

The market does this all the time.

You break a rule... the trade works!

And suddenly the lesson becomes:
"Maybe the rule wasn't that important..."

... a VERY DANGEROUS conclusion.

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

A good decision can lose money.
A bad decision can make money.

OUTCOMES CAN BE MISLEADING.

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

Most traders think they need better rules... I'm not so sure that's what they need.

Most already have rules.

The problem is they don't always follow them.

This is where standards come in.

Rules tell you what to do.
Standards determine what you're willing to accept.

A rule might say:
"Only buy stocks breaking out of sound bases."

A standard says:
"I'm willing to sit in cash rather than lower my criteria."

A rule says:
"Cut losses quickly."

A standard says:
"I'm willing to admit I'm wrong without hesitation."

See the difference?

Rules live on paper.
Standards show up in behavior.

That's why two traders can have the exact same system and produce completely different results.

One follows the rules when it's convenient.
The other maintains standards when it's uncomfortable.

The market has a way of testing those standards.

It tests them when setups are scarce.
When you're on a losing streak.
When everyone else seems to be making money.
When you're tempted to force something that isn't there.

That's when standards matter most.
Because standards remove negotiation.

The setup either qualifies or it doesn't.
The risk either fits or it doesn't.
The trade either meets your criteria or it doesn't.

That creates clarity.
And clarity leads to consistency.

Most traders spend their time looking for a better system... A better setup... A better indicator.

But often the next breakthrough isn't found in a new rule.

It's found in raising the standard for how consistently you follow the ones you already have.

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

@mwebster1971 @markminervini @YouTube In a word... WOW!

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

Most traders think standards are restrictive.

They're not!

STANDARDS STREAMLINE WORKFLOW.

If a setup doesn't qualify, you're done.
If the risk doesn't fit, you're done.

Good standards don't create more thinking.
They create less.

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

The standards you claim to have aren't the standards that define you. The standards you actually follow are.

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

The standards you claim to have aren't the standards that define you. The standards you actually follow are.

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

The fastest way to lose confidence isn't taking a loss.

It's breaking your own standards.

Because now you're dealing with two problems:

1. The loss.
2. The fact that you can't trust yourself.

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

The fastest way to lose confidence isn't taking a loss.

It's breaking your own standards.

Because now you're dealing with two problems:

1. The loss.
2. The fact that you can't trust yourself.

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

Most traders have a trading plan...

Far fewer follow it!

There's a BIG DIFFERENCE between having standards and living by them.

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

Most traders assume improvement is inevitable.

Spend enough time in the market and eventually you'll get better...

It sounds reasonable, BUT IT ISN'T TRUE!

The market is full of traders with years of experience who still struggle with the same problems.

The same mistakes.
The same frustrations.
The same behaviors.

Time alone doesn't create improvement.
If it did, every long-term trader would be consistently successful.

What creates improvement is learning.

And learning requires something many traders overlook...
DELIBERATE PRACTICE.

The best traders don't simply participate.

They study.
They review.
They identify weaknesses.
They look for recurring mistakes.

And then they work on them intentionally.

That's what separates experience from growth.
Without that process, years can pass with very little progress.
Because repetition by itself isn't enough.

In fact, repetition by itself can make things worse!

Every time a behavior is repeated, it becomes more automatic.

Good habits become stronger.
Bad habits become stronger too.

That's why some traders get better while others become more entrenched in their weaknesses.

They're both gaining experience.
But they're learning different lessons.

The traders who improve fastest treat every trade as feedback.
Not just feedback about the market.
Feedback about themselves.

...Their preparation.
...Their decision-making.
...Their risk management.
...Their execution.

Because the goal isn't simply to trade.
The goal is to improve.

And improvement doesn't happen automatically.

It happens when experience is turned into insight.
Then insight is turned into action.

And over time, those small improvements compound into mastery.

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

Be careful what you practice!
...You might be getting better at the wrong things.

Every impulsive trade...
Every ignored stop...
Every emotional decision...

The market doesn't just build skill.
It builds habits.

And habits eventually become automatic.

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

Most traders want more experience.

What they really need is more lessons from the experience they already have.

JOURNAL. DO POST ANALYSIS.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

Two traders can spend the same five years in the market...

One improves dramatically!

The other stays stuck...

The difference usually isn't intelligence.

It's whether experience becomes a lesson.

Some traders collect trades.

Others collect insights.

[Michael Lamothe @MichaelGLamothe]

Time doesn't make traders better.

Learning does.