As mentioned earlier, the list above was adapted from Rotella, but there are a number of other, similar list. Here’s one from author Jack Schwager, taken from “Market Wizards.” It’s interesting to compare and contrast the two:
• Self-Confidence – The successful trader is confident in his/her ability to win
• The desire to BE a successful trader
• Discipline – specifically, the discipline to follow your own plan
• Total commitment to trading, in both hours and efforts
• Rigid Risk Control (money management!)
• Patience to wait for the right opportunity
• A willingness to act independently of (and often contrarily to) the crowd
• Acceptance that losing is just part of the game
• A genuine love of what they do
We leave it to the reader to ponder the striking similarities between these two independently-created lists.