This is a guest post from Tino @tradersreality. This article originally appeared on tradersreality.com and is reposted here with permission.
As with any new aspiring trader looking into the chaotic world of Forex, they will browse the internet on “How to Trade Forex”, find a system, purchase it, use it, then probably give up on it until they find another system/approach and keep on repeating this process until they find the “Holy Grail” of Systems. .
Don’t bother!!!…Hands down, having this sort of approach will burn money that you can use else where.
So what should you do?
Let’s take, in my opinion, the worlds greatest football player, Cristiano Ronaldo. Do you think he would blame the turf, the weather, his boots even the football, if he had a bad game? NO, deep down he would be questioning his performance, he would take responsibility and question where could he improve.
Ronaldo knows that if he started blaming other factors, other than his ability, he would enter every game, make a mistake and blame everything else. Ronaldo knows, that with the best shoes, best turf, best football, if he tunes his mind into making sure he performs optimally, he will get a positive result. Now not all games will go Ronaldo’s way, but in his mind, if he is aware that he performed the best way he could, he then sets up his expectations, prepares for the next game with a clear mind.
The same could be applied to trading. If you have a methodology that can create profits, yet when you apply it, you merely break-even or lose, then you must question your ability as a trader and look to improve on areas that you have faults in.
If money management is an issue, address it, but how? Usually you come to awareness of a mistake when it has happened. Focus on your behavior, literally, pay attention to your breathing, what’s happening around you?
In his course Yvan Byeajee zooms in on the effects that the mind has on the body. When a trader bases decisions on emotions, they set themselves up for failure. The body responds to a build up of emotional imbalances. Our goal is to focus on becoming aware of this process developing and learning to manage it.
They say to have no expectations when you are dealing with the unknown, uncertainty of the markets.
The only expectations that you should be focusing in is the response to decisions you make prior and post trade.
E.g. if you are making mistakes and losing money, firstly you must zone in on what you are doing wrong? What’s the trigger? Are you feeling emotional when you trade, (excitement, anger) Once you accept that you felt this way, focus on how you came to become in that state of mind.
The reasons why traders lose and jump from system to system is they are not focusing on developing their ability to make a decision based on objectivity.
I have mentioned this before in previous posts: When you learn how to drive, you instinctively drive, whether your are feeling angry, happy, you will always drive correctly because you have trained your mind to be focused on the goal at hand…Drive safely and correctly.
How To Focus On Performance?
In my experience, I didn’t know I was making mistakes because I would always blame the system I used. FACT this is the one reason I have wasted so much money.
So where does this leave you as a trader?
Trading is difficult, there are no other ways to put it. I won’t sugar coat and say “Hey man you will get there” or my favorite…“practice makes perfect”. In one sense, yes practice does make perfect, but if you are practicing the wrong way, then you will get really good at F**king Up.
Sorry to be so frank, but it’s true. If you are not prepared to pay attention, focus on what you need to do in order to achieve the title as “Trader”, then you have to be prepared to focus on your ability and correct all the faults that can hinder the progression towards optimal trading performance.
Would you go up against Mike Tyson in his prime if you only boxed for like 2 weeks? If you had a death wish, then good luck to you. But you get my point. Trading is that serious. This is a game which once you master yourself, then you will be armed and have at least a good chance at succeeding.
Trade well my friends…