There’s a moment in The Best Loser Wins by Tom Hougaard that hits like a quiet truth. It’s not a revelation wrapped in flashy indicators or secret setups. It’s much simpler—and far harder:
“Stop trying to trade better. Start trying to think better.”
When we hit a slump, the instinct is to fix the doing—change our strategy, tinker with indicators, double down on signals. But Hougaard flips that idea on its head. What if the real fix lies not in the market, but in the mirror?
Slumps, he suggests, are not tests of trading skill. They’re tests of discipline—of mindset, emotional control, and the ability to stay grounded when everything inside is flaring up.
So what does his reset look like?
Trade smaller. So small that a loss doesn’t shake your center.
Go back to basics. Strip away the noise. Focus on process.
Journal—not just trades, but thoughts. Capture why you made a decision, not just what you did.
Detach from outcomes. Focus instead on execution, one clean action at a time.
One of the most staggering stats Hougaard shares comes from a broker study of 43 million trades. Over 60% were winning trades. And yet… most traders lost money. Why? Because they lost more when they were wrong and won less when they were right.
They did what felt normal:
Cut winners. Held losers. Broke rules under stress.
Hougaard argues that “normal thinking” is exactly the problem. Normal means reactive. Emotional. Hopeful. Normal trades the market as you wish it were—not as it is.
So he proposes the opposite: be abnormal.
That might mean holding onto your winners longer than your instincts allow. Cutting losers before they have a chance to turn into disasters. Sticking to rules even when your brain is screaming for an exception.
It’s not about finding the perfect edge. It’s about becoming the kind of person who can execute any edge with consistency. That’s the edge most traders overlook.
So if you’re in a slump—or even sensing one around the corner—maybe it’s not the system that needs adjusting. Maybe it’s time to zoom in. Observe yourself. Strip it back. And gently return to the work.
Because in the end, it’s not about conquering the market.
It’s about learning to stop fighting yourself.