After all these years of trading and investing money both individually and professionally there is one thing I treasure – Simple! If I don’t teach you anything else in this series of developing discipline in your trading, let it be this – SIMPLE IS BETTER! The simpler something is the more likely you are to stick with it and develop discipline. When I played baseball, my coach taught me the first principle of hitting which was to have the bat make contact with the ball. Of course I thought this was silly instruction. Everyone knows that in order to hit a baseball with a bat you need to make contact. But, what I didn’t know was you could make it more complex than it needed to be. Trading is the same way. It looks simple on the surface. After all, over the last 50 years the market has gone higher. What they forgot to tell you is it doesn’t go straight up. We have discussed proactive versus inactive investing, and we have discussed cutting your losses and letting your profits run. What you may have missed in both of these discussions is how simple I made the investment process. What I want you to get is how simple both of those examples really are to implement in your disciplined trading strategies. KISS is the key, from my view, to building a successful strategy for investing your money and allowing your money to grow to the point that you live the lifestyle you have always wanted. There are three simple steps to any good investment strategy. You can add as many as you like along the way and make it as complex as you desire after you learn the basic principles of investing. Remember the three steps you have already learned, getting it (buying), getting out (selling) and knowing where you are going (target). That’s as simple as it gets. When I taught each of my four daughters to ride a bike, the three principles I explained to them prior to even putting them on the bike were; first, peddle fast not slow – speed is your friend. Second, keep the handlebars pointed in the direction you want to  go. Third, decide where you are going and focus on that point. Sound familiar? Simplicity is the key to success. I tell the story every time I teach about the person who invented the snooze alarm for the alarm clock. This simple button has taught more people to procrastinate than any other single invention in life. The interesting part of the story is that person is retired and doesn’t need an alarm clock, and you are late for work every day. Stay disciplined and keep it so simple that you can do it!

 This is part 6 of a daily educational series Jim will provide until next week, exclusively here on greenfaucet.  Click here to read part 5