Here we are going to look at the habits of a successful trader and see what makes them stand out from the all too many traders that never seem to make it.
You see a big part of trading success comes down to discipline and daily routine, so right from the very start it is good to rid yourself of all those bad habits. You need to consciously make the chose to commit to this because it is all too easy for your emotions to start leading you into making costly mistakes. A good daily routine will help bring some order into your trading life, so if you don’t have one this is the time to start, right now! Trading can never be left to chance or trades entered at a whim so the more objective you can stay towards the market the less likely your emotions will rush you towards a bad trade.
So lets dive straight into what we consider are the top 5 habits of a successful trader.
- Organize your trading
Take a look at your other commitments outside of trading for a moment… think about things like work, family and your home life. Trading should not take your time away from these other more important areas, rather it should fit nicely in your day along side them. Every trader is different and you might find you only have time for an hour in the evening after work, so then that’s the time you have. Keeping to the same time is good discipline and you will get used to how the market reacts in your allotted time. Do not go over your time looking for something that might not be there, if you don’t have a nice entry point to trade leave it your done for the day.
- Trading plan
Now you know when your going to trade you should have a clear trading plan written out to help you focus and to help you not to stray into the realms of emotion lead guess work. You need to not only apply your plan to every trade you make but have the discipline to follow it through. Your plan will give your trading time structure, a time for everything and everything at the right time. Follow the ABC’s of your trading plan, keep your discipline and this will eliminate emotion from the trade.
- Keeping a trading journal
This is such a great discipline in so many ways, it will help you grow as a trader, you will be surprised at what you find when you start to document things in a simple journal. You will start to notice things that work and things that don’t work for you and be able to adapted the way you do trade. Your trading journal will help you directly after you close a trade. It will give you time to calm down after a win or a loss. Time well spent gathering your thoughts and evaluating the situation. It will keep you from diving straight back into the market, especially after a loss, on what may turn out to be an ill advised or risky trade. For more on how and what to put in your journal please go to TRADING JOURNAL.
- Get a hobbie!
As trading, successfully or not, is a stressful career it is important to your own well being as well as those around you that you have something to take your mind away from the numbers and charts. So if you find that you are spending more and more time analysing the market, STOP! "Go get yourself a hobbie",. You can not control the market no matter how hard you stare at the screen or beg your chosen pair to go up. You can however control your body and mind so go exercise both away from the market and you will find that you feel in a much better place which over time will only help improve your trading as well.
- Keep learning
As with all other walks of life successful people never stop learning, so make it a habit that you are prepared to do likewise. As we have seen above your trading journal is a great tool that will help you with this and outside of that learning comes in all shapes and sizes. This web site for one and there are a lot of good books out there written by some very experienced traders who have a wealth of knowledge to pass on. It might be just a minuets update on the financial news or taking on and learning a new trading strategy that you have not tried before, but slowly and surely you knowledge will grow.
Thanks for reading, see you soon and happy trading.