One of the best diagnostic processes for any trader is to take an inventory of winning and losing trades and identify potential patterns of strength and weakness. A trader I met with conducted such an assessment and found that he consistently lost money in low volatility, rangebound markets. This was because he was trading momentum patterns. His problem was that he lacked reliable and valid tools for identifying market regimes. Once he developed a couple of screening tools, he could then focus on only those markets that were trading with higher volume and volatility and ignore the ones that were slow. He also learned to pull back from trading when markets overall were slow and to take proper risk when his reliable breakout patterns were triggered. His trading problem was creating frustration and discouragement, but it would have been a mistake to focus on emotions alone. He needed to better identify and adapt to changing market conditions. No amount of psychological, self-help methods could have solved his problem.