January 2, 2018
Do You REALLY Want to Be a Trader? | Trading Psychology
Do you really want to be a professional trader?
I work with a lot of traders every day, and its easy to tell who really wants to be a trader, and who just wants to make a lot of money.
The difference between these two types of people is small, but that small difference will determine if you’re trading career has long-term success or a lifetime or pain and struggle.
Today I’m going to show you how to align your mindset for a successful trading career, so you can achieve the financial success that you’re searching for, but more importantly, avoid a lot of the pain and struggle that most traders have to deal with early in their career.
Before I go into today’s video, I want to remind you that this psychology lesson is the most recent in a series of videos that I publish every week, and these videos build on the topics we’ve already discussed, so if this is the first video you’re watching, you might want to go back and start from the beginning to get the most value out of these lessons. I’ll drop a link in the description…
Here’s the link to watch from the beginning: https://goo.gl/k1F34D
I also want to remind you to subscribe to this YouTube Channel, give me a thumbs-up if you like it, and share it with a friend if you think they can benefit as well.
And if you really want to stay in-tune with what’s going on here at SchoolOfTrade, join our mailing list on the homepage of our website, or on my blog at SidewaysMarkets.com.
So… how do you know if you REALLY want to be a professional trader?
To answer this, I first want to introduce you to a guy named Aristotle.
Aristotle was an ancient Greek philosopher born way back in 322 BC… and without getting too deep into a history lesson, he believed that happiness is tied to fulfillment.
He believed that reaching our full potential and being the best person we can be, with the tools and resources that we have access to, would lead to the greatest sense of self-worth and happiness.
This is extremely important because you’ve heard me say countless times before that I believe a positive mindset is one of the most important factors in a successful trading career.
Thinking one step further, he also said the opposite of happiness isn’t sadness, it’s the feeling that life is slipping by us, that we’re missing the many opportunities that life gives us, we’re settling for something less than we can accomplish… which often produces one of the most corrosive emotions we have as humans, and they are called guilt & regret.
I think all of us have most likely experienced both of these emotions. Happiness & Regret.
There’s no greater satisfaction than working hard to overcome a challenge and reaping the benefits waiting for us at the end. Those feelings of accomplishment, fulfillment and happiness keep us pushing through the challenges and the lowest-points along the way.
On the flip side, I can easily think of times when I chose to take shortcuts, avoiding the hard work, looking for an easy solution, and in turn, missing out on the payoff in the end… which opens the door for regret.
So, when I ask you… do you really want to be a trader… I’m really asking you… do you want to achieve true fulfillment and happiness, or are you just looking for shortcuts to make some money?
Learning a trading strategy, pushing through the hard stuff at the beginning of your career, then using that strategy to earn consistent life-changing profit each day… that is a very different feeling than getting lucky trading the news, copying someone else’s trading ideas, or chasing after the next big breakout opportunity.
That sense of pride and commitment that goes into a professional trading career is exactly the same type of happiness that Aristotle was talking about.
Successful (and often extremely happy) traders find enjoyment in learning how the markets work, how to use technical analysis to find trading opportunities, how to properly time their entries and how to manage their risk.
When the markets are closed, those same happy & successful traders are learning about their own psychology, keeping their bodies healthy, nurturing relationships, and devouring any books on trading they can find so that they can be mentally and physically ready when the opening-bell rings on Monday.
Far too many traders do the exact opposite; they crowd chat rooms looking for hot buy signals, they literally throw money at expensive software in hopes that the computer will do the hard work for them. They send me messages on YouTube asking where they should buy or sell, or if I will manage their account…always focused on the profit, rather than embracing the process.
Yes, they can make some money with these types of shortcuts, and winning trades are definitely happy events, but they are nothing more than events, and the next losing trade, which is guarantee to happen with that type of mindset, they’ll lose that happiness and the vicious cycle starts all over again.
So once again… do you really want to be a successful trader?
Are you committed to mastering the process with the intent of using that process to earn your profit this year?
· Do you get excited when you find a new reliable pattern?
· Do you wake up in the middle of the night with a new idea on how to better manage your risk?
· Are you thinking about the markets even when the markets are closed on the weekend?
Do you consider trading to be your lifestyle, and not just your day job?
Think about it… does Ed Sheeran stop thinking about music just because he leaves his studio? Do you think Jamie Oliver stops thinking about food when he leaves his restaurant? Did Michael Jordan stop thinking of ways to make his game better even in the offseason?
Of course not! They LIVE their careers 24/7 as a lifestyle
Do you find yourself lost somewhere in your own thoughts about that next big trading idea?
Is trading a job for you, or is it your life? That is the true difference between huge success or big-time failure when it comes to the business of day trading.
Now… if you’ve watched all the way to the end of this video… I think it’s safe to say that you and I fall into that definition of happiness that Aristotle was talking about, and that happiness is going to come from reaching our full potential with the tools and resources that we have in front of us.
The best part of the financial markets is that they are the great equalizer.
Yes, some people may have more money, or more resources. Some people are born into a family of traders with a lengthy list of connections, but every day the markets give us a level playing field and the opportunity to change our lives forever… no matter who we are or where we came from.
So… if you’re with me on this journey, I know it’s a new year, so here’s some homework to get you started.
First, I want you to start keeping a journal.
In fact, I would recommend two journals; a personal journal, and a trading journal. I’m going to teach you how to use that journal as we work together in this video series.
On the first page of that journal, I want you to write down your #1 goal for your trading career this year, and that is to learn the skill of how to identify a low-risk, high-reward, reliable trading opportunity. If you accomplish that, you will have exceeded 99% of every other trader on the planet. I’m not joking.
Next, on the second page of your journal, I want you to write down three sub-goals, these are smaller goals that are going to feed the larger goal.
If you watched my last video, you know that (in my opinion) the three most important aspects of a successful trading career are a trading strategy, a trading coach, and a positive mindset.
On the second page of your journal, your three sub-goals are to find a coach, master a proven trading strategy, and begin developing that positive mindset by joining me on these psychology videos.
Now… I’m going to make this really easy for you to reach your big #1 goal for this year… all you need to do is accomplish those three sub-goals.
You can choose to work with me as your coach, and I can teach you the strategy that’s worked for thousands of my clients over the years, or you can learn from someone else, but either way, make that your top priority.
As for a positive mindset, this video series on trading psychology is exactly what you need, so if you haven’t done so already, go back to the beginning of this playlist and watch it from the beginning because you’ve missed a LOT of great strategies on achieving that positive mindset that will make achieving your big #1 goal a whole lot easier.
And last, but certainly not least, I’ve given you a total of four (4) goals for you to work hard and achieve this year, and the easiest way to achieve those goals is to break them up into smaller, easier to achieve weekly goals.
This year, I want you to plan ahead with weekly goals because those small goals are the easiest and most effective way at helping you achieve your biggest goals.
We’ve covered a LOT in this first psychology lesson of the new year, so let’s do a quick recap.
In previous lessons we talked about how important the feeling of happiness & a positive mindset is to our success in day trading.
My buddy Aristotle told us that happiness was tied fulfillment, and that comes from working hard at the process of trading, rather than hoping for the profits from trading.
I asked you… do you really want to be a trader?
Because successful traders make it a lifestyle, not just a day job.
They’re committed to the process of trading, and they know that process is going to give them the tools to achieve the financial profits that they’re looking for.
I also gave you some important homework, start using a journal, and set one big goal with three sub-goals for this year.
1. Learn How to Identify a High-Probability Trading opportunity with low-risk and high-reward.
a. Learn a Trading Strategy (battle tested)
b. Hire a Coach (watch this video for WHY)
c. Maintain a Positive Mindset
In the coming videos in this psychology series I’m going to show you how to break these goals into even small, more specific goals, which will make it easier to achieve that big goal that will make all the difference.
Remember, all you need to do is learn how to find that High-Probability Trading opportunity with low-risk and high-reward… and I’m going to give you more tools on how to achieve that as this year unfolds.
Wrapping things up… I hope you found a ton of value in today’s trading psychology lesson…
… I’d love to hear from you about additional topics that you’re struggling with as traders.
Do me a favor…drop me a comment below this video with any topics you’d like to see me cover in my next psychology video…
…make sure to give me a thumbs-up if you found value, subscribe to the channel if you’re not already, and please don’t forget to share this video with a friend.
And don’t forget, you can find me every morning @ 8:00am EST working hard in my trade room with all of our members here at SchoolOfTrade.com, I have a great free trial on the homepage of our website, I publish my Nightly Newsletter every evening on my blog before 8:00pm EST, and I’m excited to see you again soon on my next trading psychology lesson.
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