DO YOU MERIT BEING A SUCCESSFUL TRADER?

Regardless of what you feel about the following statement I will like to make, it always proves to be true, and you will see the reason for that after you have read today’s lesson…

The successful and rich folks on earth, including those into business, accomplished athletes, movie actors and the likes, all deserve the fame, money and success they have achieved in life.

In almost all cases, they have worked harder and shown more smartness than the rest 99% of the populace; they venture into what 99% of the population won’t attempt, they take on risks, invest their time, money, effort and resources, they embark on constant study and practice to perfect their crafts. They are always working, directly or indirectly, at becoming the best of what they do, in the major part of their waking hours.

There is a vast difference between a successful and an unsuccessful person, and that is almost always the level of conscientiousness about the task, and awareness as to what needs to be done and when. The rich are therefore always dedicated to learning and inculcating in themselves new knowledge and information, hence this means they work their asses off in order to arrive at their dream destination; it means they are committed to finding solutions and answers to challenges that come their way. Suffice it to say that the rich and successful live and breathe what they do, they are driven by their passion, and are usually the ones among the crowd that are prepared to go the extra mile to get the result they long for, even taking risks for it.

My dear readers, that is the price you pay for freedom and lifestyle, whether in trading, sports, business, CEO or top ranking executive of an organization, or whatever be the case. A good number among those who enjoy the good life, actually deserve the good life, not as a result of inheritance, but because they worked harder than the rest to achieve it.

The question is: where do you fall into considering all the aforesaid? What’s the level of your awareness or conscientiousness in life? Let’s be honest with ourselves; if for instance you are overweight, do you deserve being that way? Do you eat right and do regular exercise, and learn good health and nutrition? If you’re not, then you probably deserve being overweight. Do you constantly study and read about the markets, take courses and seek mentors, and do daily study and analysis of the markets and charts?

No need to be under pressure or anything, but right now, after this brief introduction about what the rich and successful do in life, and their manner of thinking and actions, do you at this stage really think you deserve trading success and the ensuing lifestyle that accompany it? Are you sure your actions align with what it takes to achieve this?

IF YOU ANSWERED NO, READ ON…

Maybe you’re yet to become rich, maybe you’re yet to become successful, maybe what you currently have in your trading account is just $1,000, despite all these, you’re required to start acting as if you’re a millionaire, you’re required to start acting as if you’ve already achieved success, and to do this, there are stipulated ideas below, meant to help get you into the right groove. This will hopefully bring you closer to the self-belief that you require to master the act of trading, business, investing, or whatever endeavor you decide to pursue.

Firstly, do you even have an idea why you’re trading and what you want out of it?

It sounds funny that most traders haven’t an idea as to why they are even trading in the first place, besides the idea of “making money,” and that is a big problem.

If you’re ignorant as to where you are going, or have no definite goal in mind, how the heck can you make a plan towards achieving any goal? You certainly need a “mission statement” that defines what your reasons for trading are; you don’t just “wing it” and wait to “see what happens” because doing so will amount to gambling.

You need to be realistic about this shit, because we’re talking about REAL MONEY AND REAL LIFE, and your MONEY is at stake. It’s not a tea party we’re having on the internet: TRADING IS BUSINESS on the world’s largest stage – the financial markets. If you’re not going to put everything you have into doing this business properly, you are going to get steam-rolled, that’s a promise.

To be “prepared” and to “play by the rules,” means you have a reason for trading, and have an end-goal in mind, and that won’t be just “to make quick money,” because to be honest, there is no way you’re going to make fast money except you’re super lucky, and it will be an act of gambling by relying on luck to succeed in the markets, and the end result will always be to blow up your trading account.

The initial approach to trading should be to see it as a means of diversifying ones income stream and have another avenue of earning money besides ones regular 9-5 job – this is a realistic kind of goal to start with; but too often, most traders start with unrealistic goals like wanting to “quit their job and immediately start making a thousand dollars daily from trading;” these are unrealistic kind of goals that will end up doing you harm than good.

You need to have unquenchable and insatiable taste for knowledge

Take Billionaire Warren Buffet for instance; he still has a daily reading habit, most likely for   greater part of his day. Despite being 90 years and one of the richest people alive, he is still working and studying his craft and industry. For most people, if they had Warren’s money, they would have stacked off decades ago, but not him, and that is what makes him the best at what he does.

Another example is Tiger Woods; despite the fact that he has achieved everything a professional golfer would dream of, still practices golf regularly. Most folks would have rather thrown in the towel to chase after a life of laziness and luxury at this stage. What keeps people like, Warren Buffet, Tiger Woods and many others dedicated to their craft, is the inner drive, passion, and competitiveness in them. Their dedication now, is just as it was in the beginning, before they became successful, and this is the attitude required to achieve success in anything.

I would like you to ask yourself this: Do you look forward to constantly improve on your trading knowledge, skills and conscientiousness? In all honesty, it’s not something you should feel you “have to do,” rather you should WANT TO DO IT. If that innate desire to WANT to do it is not in you, then you probably don’t deserve to be a successful trader, and you might as well channel your time and energy into a different endeavor.

Are you just out to gamble or are you out to make money long-term?

Is your desire to make money long-term, or you are just out to gamble? Your answer could be in the affirmative, but your attitude when you trade, and your feelings when you plan to enter a trade, speaks a lot.

Not having a plan means planning to fail. If you are constantly second-guessing yourself, and lack confidence in your decisions, then it is certain you have not learnt an effective strategy and have no trading plan in place.

Day-traders most of the time end up gambling, because of being constantly glued to their computer screens, constant price changes from using short-term time frames, and the temptation to enter wrong trades that don’t align with the system they are trading; this tendency is too overwhelming for most people to overcome. If you desire to make money long-term, then position trading is your best bet, where your trades run for 1-3 days to 1-3 weeks on average.

Day-trading leads to a trading addiction mindset, which is contrary to the mindset of a professional trader. Trading “for thrills” is not what professional traders are out for; they trade to achieve goal, and to do this, they have a plan in place. Folks who day-trade successfully are very few; perhaps this is because it tests the human ability to have self-control more than any other endeavor on earth. To enjoy trading, it needs to be calculated and calm as with pro traders, not impulsive and erratic.

Do you see forex trading as a business and trade with a plan?

The above question may sound repetitive, but that is because it’s important. Having a trading plan is vital, and if you don’t have one, then making it is necessary. Businesses set goals and they all have plans as to how they intend achieving those goals; trading should be no different. Most traders, in trying to learn trading, just read a couple of blog posts, and then chuck their hard-earned money into a live account and allow the trades to fly. Little wonder they lose money by so doing, and that is why they are NOT RIPE FOR TRADING SUCCESS.

Are your thinking and actions like that of a “baller”?

Do you think and BELIEVE that you deserve trading success even before you eventually attain to it? If not, then success at it may prove elusive to you. The only way to go about doing things right in order to become successful, is by believing first that you deserve to be successful, and that you will ultimately attain it. As was mentioned above, you need to “think and act like a baller” to actually become one.

Ask yourself this question: do you pattern your trade after that of a seasoned hedge-fund manager by embarking on position trading instead of wasting time trading from short time-frame charts? Is your behavior calm, collected and calculating? Is your mood devoid of emotions and also of the mental highs and lows from trading? If not, then start working on these factors to deserve trading success.

You need to be sickeningly disciplined and ninja-focused!

To be deserving of trading success requires putting in the time and effort required for such a “reward”. Whether you like to hear this or not, the truth is that you need to be sickeningly disciplined and laser-focused for you to be in a position to deserve trading success. A notable example of the dedication and discipline required to deserve trading success is the case of famed martial artist Bruce lee who became the best ever at his craft. Being successful will not just happen to you by virtue of you thinking that you want it more than somebody else. To say the fact, every person on earth will love the idea of being able to make consistent money trading the markets; so, that you want it badly means NOTHING.

Which opponent should you fear? Of course, the one who has been practicing 1(one) kick 10,000 times, not the one who practiced 10,000 kicks just 1(one) time each. Brood over this for a good while and let it sink into your subconscious.

Conclusion

Having read today’s lesson, I would like you to ask yourself the following questions and provide honest answers to them:

•      What action are you going to take to continue building your trading conscientiousness and awareness?

•       Are you putting in enough effort or do you need to step-up effort in this regard?

•       Do you think that you really deserve success in trading, business or your personal life, and what are you doing to merit it?

•       Are you among the 1% with pass marks on all the above questions?

If you feel you have more work to do in order to deserve success at trading, then you have come to the right place, as the stuffs on this blog are meant to help you in this journey. You cannot be said to be doing the right thing if positive result is not reflecting in your trading account, but with hard work and dedication, and practicing the content of this blog, you will start seeing positive results in your trading account.