Eat Like An Elephant

There’s an old trader’s saying “Eat like a bird and sh*t like an elephant”

Classy as per usual for trader quotes…

What it really means is making small profits and then losing a huge amount. This is the curse for many developing traders and it makes the maths of winning almost impossible. Unless your win rate is exceptional, eating like a bird and sh*tting like an elephant is unsustainable

So what’s the fix?

Eating like an elephant and sh*tting like a bird.

Yep, I bet when you signed up for this you weren’t expecting that nugget! But in all seriousness, that IS the fix. Making more on your winning trades, days, weeks, months and years. Losing less and making more. Let’s focus on the winning part at the moment.

Most developing traders have great trades, they spot the right opportunities but don’t maximise them, leaving a lot on the table and simply pecking away at the trade like a bird.

The answer lies in milking the most you possibly can from the winning trades to make sure the maths of your trading approach can actually get you the results you want.

Today, think about how you can maximise your own winning trades.

• Do you need to hold trades a little longer?
• Do you need to start off with more size?
• Do you need to add to winning trades?
• Do you need to not be so eager to scale out?

Your answer lies in looking at your prior trades. What were your best trades, days, weeks, and what are the common themes? Is it a day type, a good start to the day, alignment with the bigger trend?

Because of course we only know a trade is going to be a winner after the fact, BUT if we can spot clues before or during the trade that indicate this trade could be a big winner we can take steps to maximise the juice from the deal… and eat like an elephant…