You’ve probably heard me talk about it — on podcasts, YouTube, and even FinTwit — the Bobblehead Concept.
It’s a mental visualization technique that helps traders focus on what matters and forget what doesn’t. The best part? Mastering it means you can imagine your own bobblehead figurine steadily rising over time — a visual representation of progress and growth.
The Problem with Obsessing Over Daily PnL
Most traders obsess over daily profit and loss:
- Were you green or red today?
- How did you compare to others?
This constant comparison is demotivating and misleading. A “bad day” doesn’t necessarily mean you failed; it might simply reflect how the market unfolded, not your skill.
Daily PnL doesn’t normalize for opportunity:
- $200 on a tough, trap-filled day could be excellent.
- $200 on one of the biggest days of the year could be underperforming.
Trading is probabilistic — negative days are inevitable. Even top traders experience massive losses on certain days. Obsessing over these numbers only adds stress and anxiety.
Shifting Focus to Expected Value
The Bobblehead Concept encourages you to stop obsessing over daily PnL and focus on expected value (EV).
Visualize this:
- On one axis: your daily expected value
- On the other axis: time
Your goal is to steadily raise your bobblehead over time:
- Trainee: daily EV might be negative $50 at first.
- After months: breakeven becomes the norm.
- Longer term: consistently positive EV, growing both frequency and magnitude of successful trades.
This mindset makes you agnostic to the day’s outcome. Whether the market was easy or difficult, your focus is on learning and improving, not chasing or stressing over numbers.
Transforming Losses into Opportunities
Negative days are not failures — they’re opportunities:
- Markets reveal flaws in your system.
- Losses teach discipline and selectivity.
- They build resilience and mental toughness.
- They increase your long-term expected value.
Instead of reacting emotionally to a bad day, ask yourself:
- How can I improve?
- How could I have made more or lost less?
- What lessons can I take for the future?
Control What You Can
Mindset coach Ben Crow highlights two expectations that harm performance:
- Expectation of outcome – you can’t control the result.
- Expectation of others – you can’t control what others think or do.
Focusing on these creates stress and anxiety. The solution: accept what you can’t control and focus on what you can — your effort, preparation, intention, and mindset.
Practical Application
- Stop comparing daily PnL to others.
- Focus on raising your bobblehead daily — improving skills, discipline, and decision-making.
- Treat losing days as learning opportunities.
- Keep the long-term picture in mind: your goal is lifetime growth, not short-term wins or losses.
As Mariko Yugeta, world-record marathoner, said:
“It’s a waste of time to think about days gone by. What’s important is the here, now, and the future. How can you improve yourself in the days to come?”
This is the essence of the Bobblehead Concept:
Remove obsession over PnL, focus on what matters, and improve every single day — not just for trading, but for a lifetime of growth.
Need help implementing the Bobblehead Concept? A daily report card is a good start – learn more here!
