The journey to becoming a profitable trader comes with a lot of psychological stress. It takes conscious effort and a lot of dedication to the market before you can get there. As a matter of fact, people spend years before they finally get out of the “Losing” zone. It isn’t an easy thing to do.
Trading is more psychological than technical. The technical aspect of trading only gives you an edge and strategy to use in the market, your trading psychology keeps you profitable. If you really think about it, why is it that over 75% of retail traders lose and just a little over 5% are profitable in the market? The stats are readily available on every broker’s home page. Trading is not for the faint-hearted and you won’t go anywhere if you have the get rich quick mindset either. If you aim to make some quick money and live the YOLO life, I think it’s in your own best interest to wake up from your dream and stop trading right now. Trading is a long-term game and you need to play it like one.
With my few years of experience in trading, I have come to realize that there is no shortcut to success in trading. To be a successful and profitable trader, you need to be hardworking and know what you are doing. You must have a solid plan and stick to it all the time. There is no point switching your plan all the time when something goes wrong. You took your time to create the plan in the first place, so stick to it. If you are a beginner or an intermediate trader, I will suggest you work on getting a plan and strategy. This is what will guide you in the market.
Having an edge is the first step into beating the market. It doesn’t matter if your strategy doesn’t work all the time, as long as it has a 60% and above winning rate, you are good to go. Your strategy won’t work all the time and you need to accept and know that beforehand. You won’t be in it for a surprise, and you can keep your emotions in check when things go wrong. No one knows it all, and there is no 100% winning strategy anywhere. Market conditions change all the time, so you need to be fluid in your thinking to stay profitable.
Becoming a profitable trader doesn’t end in having a strategy, but it is the first thing. The next thing you need is to have a clear goal. Having a clear goal is a must-have in your trading plan. And you shouldn’t be delusional about your goal. What I mean is, you must have an achievable goal. If you raise the bar too high for yourself, you might end up losing, and that can affect you emotionally. Well, you might argue that having a high goal is a way to push yourself, but it is a different case in trading. For example, setting a 200% profit goal as your monthly target is too far-fetched, and you might end up losing your trading account in the process. You see, there is over $5 Trillion that is being traded daily in the Forex Market, so your few thousand dollars can go down the drain and the market won’t even notice – so be careful what you aim at.
Setting a clearer and achievable goal gives you emotional stability and confidence to trade the market. You are not overreaching and you put yourself in a situation where you can control your actions when things go sour. If you have a winning strategy, an edge, and a clear goal, you have done over 60% of the job. All you have to do next is to get consistent and you are on your way to being profitable.