In trading focus is crucial. You have to know who you are as a trader and exactly what your method and trading plan is, and you must follow it. In trading discipline makes money, focus makes money, stocks in up trends make money, while risk management allows you to keep the money that you have made. You could say you must be picky to be a good trader.
Here are the areas to be picky about:
- A good trader is picky about the methodology they decide to trade, they study diligently to see what works before they begin trading.
- Be very picky about the stocks you trade, only trade the very best stocks in up trends long and only short the biggest junk stocks that are in downtrends.
- Being picky about your entry point is crucial, stick with your trading system and follow your predetermined plan. Enter only when the odds are in your favor for a winning trade.
- You can not just trade any position size of stock, you have to be picky about the quantity of shares you trade and base it on your risk management guidelines.
- Be very picky about who you follow on social media and who’s trading books you read, look for a teacher not a stock picker and beware of big promises and big egos.
- Only study the principles of the very best traders of all time to build your own trading system. Look only for what works not theories or academic opinions.
- Listen to real traders not talking heads on financial television.
- Study the charts of the greatest stocks of all time and backtest your trading systems through multiple market environments.
- If you trade options only trade the ones with the most liquidity so you do not lose money between the bid/ask spread. Avoid penny stocks, believe me, they are dangerous.
- Continuously filter all your sources of trading information, ONLY keep that which enables you to make money in the markets.
In trading the pickiest 10% of traders win with discipline and focus while the 90% of traders that do what is easy lose money consistently.
Be picky about everything and choose your path carefully.