Becoming a Successful Trader: It's More Than Just Strategies

Beginner Questions Trading Psychology
1

Who do you have to become in order to become a successful trader?

So much of our efforts are focused on learning strategies, risk management, and chart reading. While these are crucial aspects of trading, I believe they represent only the tip of the iceberg.

The more fundamental question revolves around you and your behaviors.

Having spent over a decade coaching individuals from various backgrounds, I’ve seen firsthand that one particularly powerful catalyst for change is a shift in identity.

What does that mean? It means you should strive to identify as a trader rather than just someone who trades.

Why is this useful?

Because with an identity comes a set of behaviors and perspectives that shape how you interact with the world.

For instance, if you’re a photographer, you see the world through a different lens than someone who’s a stone mason.

So ask yourself this question:

Who do I have to become to be a successful trader?

Is a successful trader undisciplined, impulsive, and at the mercy of their emotions?

No.

A successful trader possesses discipline and a high degree of self-awareness, allowing them to step away from the screen before making impulsive decisions that could jeopardize their financial future.

There are many other characteristics that define a successful trader. It’s worthwhile to reflect on these traits and begin implementing them outside of your trading activities.

Learn to cultivate discipline beyond trading. Become more self-aware throughout your day. Find constructive ways to engage with your emotions rather than letting them dictate your actions.

This approach will not only make you a better trader but can also enhance your overall life experience.

Don’t view trading as an isolated skill; see it as something that involves your entire being. By changing how you interact with the world, yourself, and your trading, you can foster significant transformation.

Let me know what characteristics you believe a successful trader would have in the comments below.

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2

Using different strategies for trading is surely a great bonus pointer for traders who know how to use it. But just implementing the strategies doesn’t make you win.

You need to know few mandatory rules to trade:-

  • Always Use a Trading Plan.
  • Treat Trading Like a Business.
  • Use Technology to Your Advantage.
  • Protect Your Trading Capital.
  • Become a Student of the Markets.
  • Risk Only What You Can Afford to Lose.
  • Develop a Methodology Based on Facts.
  • Always Use a Stop Loss.
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3

Good post, probably a bit too advanced for most forum participants but the experienced traders can definitely relate.

Some characteristics I can add are:

  1. Commitment: It’s not enough to try, you have to commit - the markets are a level playing field where beginners go up against professionals. You can’t compete with professionals by just trying.
  2. Ability to shift mental perception and focus: Learn to embrace losses. You can’t become great at trading until you first become great at losing.
  3. Courage to take a risk and go full time: The learning curve is steepest after you go full time. It’s very difficult if not downright impossible to become a good part-time trader. The extra mental capacity from not having another day job will not only shorten the runway but it absolutely vital for improving.
  4. Love for the craft: Do it for more than just money. Every successful trader has a genuine love for their craft, the money is secondary.
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4

Love these points. Trading is an interesting area where you need to be open minded and flexibel, yet persistent enough to give trades and approaches a fair chance.

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5

Super interesting read, Clear! :blush: This gave me the realization that maybe I’m still not a successful and consistently profitable trade because I’m still at that point where I identify as just someone who trades. :open_mouth:

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6

Yes agreed. There are a lot of contradictions and paradoxes that IMO all traders need to reconcile:

  1. I need to be confident enough in my analysis to take a risk entering a trade, but humble enough to realize that my analysis could be wrong and be ready to exit the trade with minimal loss.
  2. To become profitable I had to stop focusing on trying to make money and instead focus on managing losses and controlling risk.
  3. To gain control, I had to first give up control. To be more certain, I had to first learn to live with uncertainty.
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7

very well said

8

A successful trader embodies discipline, emotional control, patience, and self-awareness. They approach trading with a mindset of continuous learning and adaptability, maintaining a long-term perspective. By cultivating these qualities both within and outside of trading, they make better decisions, manage risks effectively, and stay consistent in their growth.

10

This is what I thought! For me, being a successful trader is more about handling my emotions better & staying disciplined. Over the time I have learned that patience is the key to success. It’s all about learning and keeping growing as you trade.

11

This is a great post and thank you for sharing! I’m still learning, and this gave me something to think about. I’ll keep in mind that being a successful trader isn’t just about strategies but also about building the right traits and habits.

12

I agree. I am a big believer in enjoying the process instead of focusing on the results because if you enjoy what you’re doing stay disciplined and follow your process with precision then the results will ultimately come.

13

Same here. It is good to have this as a goal, but it is better to have a realistic set of goal to follow.

14

Agreed. Setting realistic goals keeps you grounded and focused. Big dreams are great, but small, achievable milestones are what actually get you there.

15

I second this.

I don’t aim for bigger profits because personally, I am always convinced that will lead to a loss. I try to make small profits and just stick to my strategy.

16

Exactly, bigger profits leads to bigger losses instead go with the decent amount and execute it with the plan.

17

I can relate! What kind of strategy do you stick to?

18

But sometimes aiming for bigger profit isn’t that bad if your strategy supports it, don’t you think? To me, I guess as long as you can manage the risk, going for bigger target can be worth it.

19

You are right. If your strategy is in place and you are confident about your risk management approach, aiming for a bigger profit is natural. It’s just my subconscious mind always leads me thinking about the losses.

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20

That’s not a bad thing at all. :sunglasses:

In the overall scheme of things, traders whose instinctive approach is led by avoiding losses and preserving capital do far better than those who seek to maximize profit.

That can easily make the difference between overall profits and overall losses.