Traders MindsetLet’s talk about mindset! You hear everyone saying; mindset is the most important in trading. But what is having “the right mindset” ?
Now here is a little secret. Mindset is not just being focused on the money. “I must be profitable”. No. Having the right mindset is having a set of attitudes. Quite literally the definition..
Mindset /ˈmʌɪn(d)sɛt/
noun (usually in singular) the established set of attitudes held by someone.
How you approach the market is very important.
Have a set of rules for yourself.
- Do I have a trading plan? Having a trading plan is important. It helps you follow something day in and day out.
- Do I have good market conditions? Having good market conditions is important as it helps you make more clear decisions. Trading in sideways markets usually ends badly. It forces the trader to become impatient and entering too soon, expecting a breakout to either side usually leads to loses.
- Do I know the risk? Understanding the risk before you enter the trade is important. Majority of traders over-leverage, meaning they use high leverage thus being able to open higher lot size positions. That usually leads to blown accounts. Knowing what you are risking, eliminates a lot of the emotions.
- Do I have any confirmations? Whether that’s a break, a pullback, fundamentals supporting your view that’s great! Having confirmations on your analysis or trade is important.
- Is this trade forced? Am I being nervous before entering? Am I not sure? Am I gambling on this trade? Understanding your emotions is important. Ever felt like this when you opened a trade, knowing you shouldn’t and it instantly went against you? Avoid these trades.
One more thing I would like to add. Ever been stuck to your screen 24/7? Lost sleep over a trade. Here is a fact. You watching the chart, won’t change its path. Sad truth. There is nothing wrong with following your trade, but if you are watching your losing trade, then I already know where it leads. You do too. Avoid this. Going back to the #1 rule. Know your risk before entering. Eliminate emotions.
Having the right mindset is following your own rules and having a set of habits. Habits that help you to grow as a trader. Eliminate bad habits. Review your past trades. You all know why you lost a trade. But will you look for an excuse? “Ah the market did a liquidity sweep” or “market is manipulated”. The market is never wrong. You as a trader are.
Don’t celebrate wins or mourn loses on your account. Treat it as your full time job. You have some good days, you have some bad days. You win, you move on. You lose, you move on. As long as you are following the trading plan, you will succeed.
Understanding this, combined with experience will grow you as a trader. And guess what the by product of this is? Money.
So don’t focus on money. Focus on self-growth, mindset, experience and upgrading your skillset of trading. Money will be the byproduct of your journey.
Create your mindset plan. A set of rules for yourself. Try doing it for 30 days. Come back to this post and tell us if you have improved.
Nothing or no one is stopping you from being a successful trader but yourself. It’s not the market and no it’s not the broker.
Majority of traders quit after blowing a few accounts. The rest stick around for years but make no progress. Only a few % of them actually find the meaning behind it and succeed.
What’s the secret? Signals? Prop Firms? Account managers? EA’s? No. Sure all these things can benefit you slightly. But what truly is the secret to being successful in trading?
You! You are the secret. Understanding yourself, your emotions, your reactions to certain events. Trading is a mirror of you. An amplified picture of you. Are you impatient? Scared? Nervous? Greedy? Forex will amplify those emotions.
The biggest battle you have to win is the battle with yourself. Not the market.
Trading is easy, you have a trading plan, you stick to it. Sometimes you may have a loosing week, happens right? But as long as you are sticking to your strategy, understanding the market, using a positive R:R and understanding the importance of consistency you should be fine. But here is the hard part. Your reactions. Your emotions.
Let’s take for example NFP Data release. Weeks or even months of progress can be wiped out due to irrational decisions during news. Don’t be that trader. Suppress your emotions, don’t get greedy. Take a jab at the market, but only after the data is out.
Remember, no one is stopping you from being a successful trader, but yourself.
A key element added to a traders mindset is PATIENCE .
patience /ˈpeɪʃns/
(noun) - the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.
That’s the definition of patience. Trading is a stressful field. Not only does your analysis have to be on point, you have to be focused, have a trading plan, use proper risk to reward ratio… so many factors and then comes the patience. We already know that the market always provides unexpected problems. It plays with our emotions, ranges, does not move, goes against us etc.
How many times have you entered in a position and the price started to range, while you float in loss? You start doubting, you get scared and you close the position. Or even worse, you get stopped out. Later in the day you check the chart and you see your Take Profit (TP) would have been hit, but only if you were more patient?
Or how many times have you had an A+ setup, everything was going to plan but you closed it early because you wanted to secure the profit?
Being a good trader is hard, but it’s not impossible. Discipline is everything as well as patience. Without patience you are bound to lose.
From talking to many people, you would be surprised at how many of them want to “flip” their account. “Do you think I can make 2000$ this week” with 1000$ in their account.
We will always advocate for patience. Playing the long game. Consistency + patience will get you far.
Check some of the last trades you did. Were you patient? Ask yourself. Majority can find themselves in these stories.
Work on your patience, and you will get far.
For example, check out this long-term analysis on XAUUSD (Gold) posted on January 9th. Now we did close it earlier, but we still managed to secure +500 pips (50$ price action) in 3 days of holding. Patience.
This post was made due to a high request of people liking our minds, so it has all been posted in a single educational post.
FxPocket
