trading groups, utility companies – as well as individuals trading from home.
I would summarise my role as helping my clients to trade at their best.
To do this I provide coaching, training and advice around risk-taking, decision-making, and achieving and sustaining high performance. I draw on research and practice from psychology, physiology, behavioural science, neuroscience, peak performance, decision science and – most recently – philosophy. All the while, I try to stay mindful of what actually works with real traders in real markets.
The result is a blending of the science of performance with the art of coaching.
Some clients, around 20–30% or so, come to me because they are performing well and want to sustain that level over time, or to move up to the next level, to stretch themselves in the pursuit of becoming their best trading self.
The vast majority seek support, however, because they are facing a challenge of some kind in the markets – a drop or stagnation in results, some psychological discomfort (thoughts or feelings) or an uncomfortable physiological response (stress or fatigue).
This imbalance reflects a number of factors: firstly, human nature, and our negativity bias. Secondly, how reactive traders are to their P&L, especially the ‘L’ part of that. Thirdly, how challenging and demanding trading the markets is psychologically and physiologically.
Tough times
Pre-2008 a great deal of my work in trading and investing was framed around maximising returns, increasing performance – going from good to great.
There was a growing sense that trading and investing psychology was creating a performance edge, and an increasing number of traders and fund managers were exploring its possibilities. Post-financial crisis, that focus on performance enhancement continued, but another theme came to prominence: managing stress, performing under pressure, dealing with setbacks, coping with challenges and change, sustaining performance.
In other words, resilience.
This has only increased in the years since. Redundancies, regulatory changes, reduced head counts, sustained or increased targets and budgets (with less resources), information overload, new technology, market structure changes and evolutions, not to mention a global pandemic and many of the above coming together all at the same time (a “cluster f***” as one head of desk at a bank described it to me) have placed huge demands on traders.
Support, skills and strategies
For some traders I have worked with, the challenges they’ve faced have been relatively short-term and situational. For others they have been longer and more drawn out.
For both types of trader, my role as a coach has been twofold.
Firstly, to support them – to be a person they can confide in. Someone they can talk about their challenges with; someone they can reflect on things with. Someone who can advise and guide as required.
Secondly, to help them to develop specific mental, emotional and physical skills and strategies that enable them to overcome the challenges they are facing – and which will also be valuable additional tools in their psychological and physiological armoury going forward.
I hope that this book can provide you with the second of these, as a way of helping you to develop your own bulletproofing skills.
What brings you here?
Whenever I take an enquiry from a trader or an institution about working together, I like to understand what has led them to getting in touch.
Some examples of what brings traders to my coaching include:
New traders at the start of their careers looking for support in developing a resilient mindset and the mental skills required to deal with the challenges of trading the markets.
Experiencing a large loss and seeking help to deal with the experience – and to recover effectively.
Being in a period of drawdown/losses and wanting support in getting through it.
Lacking in confidence; being unable to pull the trigger on trades or to take the level of risk they feel they could or should be taking.
Needing support with managing a change of some type, perhaps in trading style or in trading a new product.
Managing the demands of trading and the demands of life outside trading.
Help with developing composure to manage big moments in the markets.
Learning to become more comfortable with the uncertainty and ambiguity of the markets.
Managing emotions such as fear, anger, frustration, regret and anxiety.
Strengthening discipline, or consistency, of trade execution.
Help with managing physical energy – reducing fatigue, overcoming exhaustion and burnout.
Managing impatience, dealing with quieter and slower-moving markets, overcoming boredom trading or reducing overtrading.
Struggling with being wrong, with losing money or making mistakes.
Finding it hard to stay in winning trades, running winners.
Before you read further, my question to you is: what brings you here?
Is there a particular reason you are reading this book? What would you like to get out of it?
2. The Bulletproof Framework
The key requirements
I am often asked what I believe are the key requirements for becoming a successful trader. One thing that I would say is absolutely critical is the ability to manage the highs and lows – but especially the lows.
That ability might be termed ‘resilience’, ‘mental toughness’ or ‘stress-hardiness’, but for this book I am borrowing the term bulletproof from my hedge fund client we met in chapter 1.
“Success comes to the lowly and to the poorly talented, but the special characteristic of a great person is to triumph over the disasters and panics of human life.”
— Seneca
The four foundations of bulletproof trading
The ability to perform under stress and pressure, to cope with the highs and lows of performance in high-stakes environments, has been thoroughly researched over the years. Traders are now able to benefit from the findings – and practice – of the military, elite athletes, law enforcement and performing artists. All of which feed into this book.
When it comes to helping my trading clients develop their ability to manage the challenges and difficulties of trading, my work is influenced by many different areas of study. They can be grouped broadly under the headings of psychology, physiology, philosophy and the
