If you have been around day trading for awhile, you have no doubt gone on the Holy Grail hunt. We have all done it. Deep down in our gut we feel that there is a small group of people keeping a huge enigma all to themselves. If day trading is a zero sum game (for every winner there is a loser) then this group of traders must be taking all of your money. You just know that if you can hit upon them and link up with them, then you'll have all the treasures you could ever desire.

Ok….now for reality. As much as we would like to think it, we both realize there is no Holy Grail. The truth of the matter is, thriving traders are folks that have a strategy they have trust in and they stick to it with extreme discipline. I won’t try to convince you of that now because you have probably read books, articles, or blogs that have by now told you this very thing. If you don’t believe them, then I would be wasting my time trying to convince you of this one basic truth yet again.

So let me impart an analogy with you that will help illustrate the point.

A long time trader told me to visualize day trading as a basketball game. The game starts on Monday morning and ends on Friday afternoon. Before the start of the game you have to build a game plan. You can’t merely go out on the basketball court and begin throwing the ball around and be expecting to beat a competent team. If you lack a plan and the discipline to stick with it when things are not going your way, then you are beaten from the outset.

If you go into a game expecting to keep the other team, which you already know is a good team, from scoring any points then you do not have a practical game plan. You know that the opponents WILL score some points. There are hardly any games that end 100-0. So understanding that the other team will score, do you give up the game when that happens? No, you take the next chance you will have to score points of your own. If you believe in your game plan, you know that you can endure the other team scoring. You just have to stick to the plan and be unyielding in its execution.

What if the opponent starts to get a lead? Should you defend the ball and not try any more shots? Should you just take a few easy shots? Should you start hurling the ball at the basket from half court praying that you get lucky? Should you give up? Or should you stick to the plan? A plan that has confirmed over time to win more times than it loses. A plan which has been well designed and tested over time. A plan that creates more wins than losses over the long term.

A basketball game isn't over until the final buzzer. You do not walk out if you are trailing in the 3rd period (i.e. Wedneday afternoon) and are afraid of defeat. If you are trailing, you stick to the plan. You give the ball to the best players and have them try their best shots. You know they can do it as they have made it before and won the game.

How do you have a championship season? Do champions always have unbeaten seasons? Of course not. On their way to the championship they have more than likely been severely challenged and defeated. But they have been victorious more than they have been defeated. And when they have been defeated, they have picked themselves up and gone into the next game with a plan and the self-control to stick to it. Winners don’t walk out when the game gets hard. Winners won't change their plan in the middle of a difficult game. Winners continue taking their shots and eventually come out victorious.

For more from Tony, please visit The Intentional Trader.