There is a tendency for successful traders to over-focus on their particular area(s) of expertise and view the rest of the market participants & their activities through that specific, individual lens. “This is how I was able to be successful, therefore this is the way to be successful.” The fact is, there can be many ways to productively participate in a market. I’ve been writing & lecturing & consulting on trader training and development for almost a decade, and in that time I’ve rarely mentioned how I used to trade. Because it’s irrelevant. What made me successful was a product of my particular strengths, which happened to be well-aligned with the market I was present in and the tools available to operate in that environment. None of which would be the same for anyone starting last year or last month or tomorrow. There are certain immutable truths about trading. You have to be able to ingest information and turn it into a perspective on the future evolution of price. You have to understand risk/reward, and must make properly sized bets and manage the inherent risk. You must be disciplined enough to do all of that in a rigorous, intellectually honest way. You can do all of the above quantitatively, or not. With an algorithm or a telephone, a legal pad & pen or an FPGA. The key to being a consistent, profitable trader is usually doing the basic, boring things that in aggregate form your edge better than your peers in the market. That’s it. That’s all there is to it. If you can do that, you have a chance. If you can’t, you don’t.