Trading Success is a Result of Self Mastery

By Nial Fuller – Success in the markets is a result of a mastery of self-control and discipline. This is the exact reason why so few people excel at trading and why most give up after losing most or all of the money in their trading account. A simple one or two day lack of discipline can start a chain of emotional mistakes that has the power to erase much of the progress you have made in the markets. Some traders maintain discipline and self-control for years only to find themselves unintentionally losing their discipline in the markets. Any trader who has a year or two of live trading experience under their belt will attest to the fact that you can lose money in the markets in the blink of an eye while it seemingly is much more difficult to make it.

Trading is essentially a game of risk management. The traders who make it to professional status are the ones who understand that protecting their money from their own emotional weakness is the key to long-term profitability. Many people have the opposite mindset when they first start trading; they are very unaware of the risks they are facing and as a result of how easy trading seems on the surface they risk way too much and then the snow-ball effect of mistakes begins. Once you master your own emotions you are well on the way to becoming a profitable trader.Mastering one’s emotions means consciously controlling how you respond to situations. In the forex markets this means constantly monitoring your reactions to the market. You have to stop and ask yourself after every trade you make if what you are feeling is conducive to your trading plan or is a result of emotion. Often after a good trade we fear the market less than we should and want to jump back in and make more money, this is emotional trading and usually leads to a loss. This subsequent loss will offset the positive feeling you just had from your winning trade and will probably cause you to try and make back what you just lost. You can see where this is going. It is a vicious cycle and unless you are consciously aware of it and the fact that you might be kicking it off at anytime while interacting with the market you aren’t going to last long.

Generally a mastery of the market will be evident in other areas of your life. The mind set that it takes to consistently profit from trading is the same one that will lead you to accomplish other long-term difficult goals. Persistence and discipline in the face of pressure and constant emotional temptation makes for well rounded people and for well rounded traders. If you are getting a thrill out of your trading activities than you are not doing something right. Trading should not be that exciting. You should know what you are going to do before you do it so that there are no surprises. If you plan out how you will react to a market situation before it happens than you will not react emotionally if it does happen. This will prevent you from starting down the very slippery slope of emotional trading.

About the Author

Check Out Nial Fuller’s Price Action Forex Training Website here –Learn Forex Trading.