If you’re anything like me and I know I am, then you know how important it is to keep pushing yourself to be better in all aspects of life. It makes no difference if I feel like I have perfected something in my life — cooking and driving are terrific examples. I’m always going to challenge myself to outdo the version of me who went to sleep the night before.

We can all agree that stagnancy can actually contribute to poor mental health. That’s why taking vacations from work are so crucial. It’s also why I will never, ever attain complacency in anything I do. Even the greatest quarterbacks in the NFL look back on their best games knowing the things they could’ve done differently and how much more successful they could’ve been with just a few minor tweaks.

As a rule, I like to do my Monday morning quarterbacking every single time I shut down my trading platform for the day. What did I do right? What could I have done better? Did a trade turn against me because of something I did, or was I hosed by something outside of my control? Did I leave money on the table and, if so, was it really worth the risk had I held longer than my gut instincts told me to?

No matter how long they’ve been at it, all traders need to create a strict set of rules to follow if they want to find success in the market. Your guidelines will vary based on how you operate and really ought to lean heavily on the things that you are not so great at as a trader. My biggest struggle, without question, will always be cutting the loss. Does anybody ever enjoy admitting defeat? But I also know that, if I don’t, there’s a high probability my losses will continue to snowball and I will feel way worse if I don’t wave the white flag the second I start feeling negative vibes about a trade.

If you truly want to achieve consistency as a day trader, you need to think long and hard about what traits you carry that may work against you and conquering those demons before putting real, hard-earned money in the market.