Recently, I came across this article from the Van Tharp Institue.
I thought it addressed some critical issues facing traders, so I have
pasted it below.

Dr. Van Tharp is well known for his teaching of sound money
management and discipline.

You can apply any or all of his teachings to your disciplines but the more you use the better you will become.
Since this is long I will put part 2 on tomorrow.

When people choose to trade the markets, they always want to
rush in and get started straight away. They foolishly think that
are going to miss the next "big wave." But the market doesn't
know when you get in or when you get out. So don't be foolish,
take the time to plan. ~Mel

The entry price to being a trader or investor is fairly low. All you
need is enough money to open an account. Your broker doesn't
care whether you understand expectancy or objectives. Your broker
doesn't care whether you understand that position sizing is the key to
meeting your objectives. And your broker certainly doesn't care that
you must have your personal psychology in order for any of the other
to matter.

Your broker cares about two things:

1. That you have enough money to open an account, and,

2. That you don't lose many times the value of your account so that
the broker gets in trouble.

That's it!

You can easily open an account without knowing the first thing about
trading. Is this true of other professions? Can you become an engineer
without understanding calculus? Can you become a doctor without
going to medical school? Can you be an attorney without passing the
bar? Of course not.

Similarly, could you play golf against a pro the first time you stepped on a golf
course? Would you put yourself in a chess tournament against a master player
if you'd never played before? If so, the worst you could do is lose a few games
or your pride.

But what do people lose in the markets? Anything from a few dollars to their
life savings; yet there are no rules about who should or shouldn't be in the markets.
Day in, day out, people jump into the markets recklessly: without experience,
without training and most definitely, without any type of formal plan. In fact, your
broker may not even know the real nuances and fundamentals of safe and
profitable trading themselves. And more often than not, people who open a
brokerage account will lose money.

If you are serious about being a good trader, then you need to approach the
practice of trading with the same level of rigor in which you would approach
any high level endeavor. The market does not owe you or anyone great riches.

The market does, however, occasionally tease a large number of people with
seemingly easy gains (during bubbles and other manias) only to take them away
again.

Trading is a business. It's a profession. It's a skill to learn.

Most businesses fail because they fail to plan.

Business planning is the backbone to success. It shows you where you're coming
from and helps you to organize your thoughts and your objectives, and come up
with a plan to keep you trading successfully and in the markets for the long term.

Therefore Van recommends that every trader or investor develops a thorough
business plan to guide your trading. And even if you are trading well, he still
recommends developing a planning tool. Those who are doing well will just have
a little less work to do.

Your business plan should cover all of the following areas:

Your vision.
Your purpose.
Your objectives.
A thorough self-assessment of your strengths and weakness based upon
real trading logs that you collect (if you haven't done so already).
A thorough assessment of the big picture and the fundamentals that might
be behind any trend.
A complete understanding of your beliefs about the market.
Procedures for getting empowering beliefs and mental states behind you.
A documentation of your research procedure for developing new systems
and determining how to analyze their effectiveness.
Your procedures for developing and maintaining discipline.
Your budget and cash flow systems.
Other necessary systems such as marketing, back office record keeping, etc.
Your worst-case contingency plan.
System 1--which is compatible with the big picture.
System 2--which is also compatible with the big picture.
System 3--which might come into play should the big picture change.
If you have all of those things, then you have a chance of doing well. But your
business plan becomes a tool for you to continually use to improve yourself and
your trading.