One trait of every successful trader is constant self-esteem. You’ve probably heard this before, but in trade it’s the absolute truth: you’re your biggest enemy. The following checklist can help you identify the psychological barriers that every trader faces during their trading career. Take a few minutes to read it, be honest in your answers and reread the list from time to time. You will be amazed at your progress and see real results on your trading account balance.
- After a losing deal do you have a desire to “get revenge” and immediately enter into another deal to get back the lost money? If so, how often are losses accompanied by further trade losses? When you are in “revenge” mode, are you inclined to extend a stop loss order or trade without a stop loss? You will notice that your trading performance is bad if you are upset or disturbed for any reason.
- Are you working on yourself mentally while the market is close? Do you analyze your trading activities and try to determine what you are doing right and what is wrong in your trade every day with certain steps to solve both? Good traders always review their latest trades and analyze them. They even keep a trade diary and write down comments, do and don’t do. This is called business quality control, which allows successful traders to change with the ever-changing forex markets.
- What impact do the days when you lacked discipline and / or proper risk control have on your overall profit / loss? Do you follow and strictly follow the rules of risk and money management?
- What is your state of mind while trading? Before you start a deal: do you think about the money you will earn? Are you fascinated by the trade itself? Experienced forex traders do not think in terms of money while they are trading. They think in points. If you think about money, it means that you are not acting for the right reasons. Also, good traders are not looking for excitement, self-esteem or recognition in the Forex market. They trade to make pits. And in most cases you won’t be able to tell if a good or bad trading day was in them.
- Do you have any conversations with yourself while trading? If so, what is the quality of your self-talk? Or angry and frustrated; negative and defeated or encouraging and optimistic? Is your self-talk constructive, and would you like others to talk to you that way while you trade?
- Are you leaving deals too early to see how the market is rallying towards your closed position? Do you become stubborn when confronted with losing positions, turning small losers into big ones? Remember: cut your losses and let your profits grow. This is a simple rule and the key to success, but you will find it very difficult to follow it.
- Do you like to trade? Do you feel happy while trading, or is trading in agony for you? Forex trading is hard, sometimes tedious work. The income can be huge, but this job is not for everyone. Are you set up to trade forex?
- Do you see real trading opportunities and trade them? Do you have a habit of creating opportunities when you don’t have them? inexperienced, undisciplined traders tend to pull the trigger often and not according to their trading plan.
- Do you have a unique trait that gives you an edge over other traders? These can be very narrow spreads, a fast computer and a special tool or unusual discipline and perseverance. If you can identify your special benefits and maintain them, you will gradually get closer to the top 5 percent of traders who make the most of the profits in the forex market.
- How much are you willing to sacrifice to become a successful forex trader? Think about how much time and money each professional had to sacrifice to make a living from their profession. Forex trading is not exceptional.