Trading Psychology

My social media feed occasionally throws up clips from a podcast called Diary of a CEO by Stephen Bartlett, who, from what I have seen, seems to spend most of his time staring wide-eyed at people making the most outrageous, nonsensical statements about health and science. And to bastardise the quote attributed to H.L.Mencken, nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the general public.

However, now and again someone is interesting on his podcast with something interesting to say, and last week it was a clip of the English comedian Jimmy Carr who said –

“If you see the distance between where you are and where you want to be as your problem, that’s ambition. If you see the distance between where you are and where you want to be as someone else’s problem, that’s entitlement.”

Such an obvious statement, but something many traders and people in general don’t get.

Most traders are convinced their issue is a lack of information, time, or capital. But the real fracture sits deeper. It’s inside the way they frame the gap between their current results and the results they believe they “should” be getting.

Ambition looks at that gap and thinks:

“That’s on me. I can get better. I can build the skills. I can do the work.”

It’s grounded. It’s aware. It’s forward-leaning without being delusional.

Entitlement looks at that same gap and believes:

“The market should be easier. My broker should get better fills. Someone should tell me when to buy. I deserve returns by now.”

Entitlement is a process of taking and wanting.

And this mindset quietly corrodes every part of a trader’s process.

Entitlement Makes Traders Passive; Ambition Makes Them Accountable

The entitled trader waits for setups instead of building scanning routines.

They blame stops rather than refining position sizing.
They expect consistency without building a repeatable process.

The ambitious trader, meanwhile, accepts the discomfort of apprenticeship.

• They collect data.
• They review losses.
• They refine their signals.
• They shoulder the responsibility of progress, and paradoxically, that responsibility frees them. Because once you accept the gap as yours to close, you actually gain agency. You can push. Adjust. Improve.

And then—slowly but steadily—the gap begins to shrink.

Markets Reward Those Who Take Ownership

Trading is the purest meritocracy you will ever encounter.

• You can’t charm the market.
• You can’t negotiate with it.
• You can’t blame it for not performing the way you expected.

Entitled individuals use the word ‘deserve’ a lot, as if the trading gods will hear it and grant them whatever they want.

To a large degree, trading is suffering – it is simply the way it is.

Ambition Builds Systems; Entitlement Builds Excuses

Every robust trading system—whether it’s your short-term theme work, a breakout framework, or a weekly trend model—rests on a foundation of disciplined personal responsibility. Signals don’t grade themselves. R-multiples don’t analyse themselves. Themes don’t magically reveal themselves at 9:55 a.m.

When you own the gap, you work the process, and trading is simply a process—doing the same thing in the same way every day.

When you deny the gap, you fantasise about “easy money” and easy solutions. If only I had the right magic moving average.

The Hard Truth—and the Opportunity

The distance between where you stand today and the trader you want to become isn’t a flaw. It’s an invitation. It’s an ambition’s proving ground.

Every chart you study, every stop you honour, every journal entry you write is a small declaration:

“The gap is mine. And I’m closing it. You simply need to become a version of yourself that is not yet fully formed”

Traders who think this way—quietly, relentlessly, without entitlement—are the ones who eventually wake up one day with the results everyone else wished for.