The Hardest Part of Trading (What is rarely said)Seeking More information - When first introduced to markets, every beginner immediately thinks he must learn the rules of the market in order to succeed. He thinks he loses because he does not know enough. He initially believes there is a "holy grail" a system, a leader, or a mathematical equation like Fibonacci levels. He believes these will protect him in the market, and will lead him to a profit once he understands them.
The problem is, there are no set rules which work consistently in the market. If there were, the institutions and everyone else would simply use them. What would happen then? Well, there would be no one or institution to take the opposite trade, and the market would cease to exist altogether.
And so the new trader changes from one system to another, from one guru to another, and constantly thinks he must learn more information in order to succeed. What he believes to be preventing his success is a lack of knowledge, a lack of information. But you see, the more information you have does not necessarily lead to better decisions. There is a lot of evidence to support the contrary, and suggests that too many choices actually impair decision making skills.
On top of this, most of the information in the trading world is quite simply wrong. There are 10 x more scam artists who claim to "know" and will take your money to teach you how to trade than there are profitable traders. Beware of anyone who claims to know anything. They are either fooling themselves, or fooling you. These people do not understand markets or them selves, and cannot make money in the market, so instead they prey on new market entrants. This is the primary reason I started my trading website; to provide high value information at a low cost. And to give those who are serious about trading an actual chance to make it in the markets, without ignoring a key variable; your self.
Dealing with Uncertainty - The reason most traders seek new information is because they are afraid of uncertainty and want certainty. They seek something to protect them in the market. Something to protect them from themselves. A system that will guarantee a profit. But there is no such thing. Markets constantly change and evolve through the market cycle. And there is no system that works across all three parts of the market cycle.
No matter how convinced you are of something happening in the market, there is always at least a 30-40% chance of the exact opposite happening. This means even the strongest edge has a failure rate. The sooner you realize and accept this, the closer you will be to making a consistent profit.
It is very hard to learn how to deal with uncertainty. But you do it every day. When you wake up in the morning are you certain you will live through the end of the day? Are you certain you will still have a job tomorrow by working for a reputable company? No, and you can never be completely certain of this. Certainty is an illusion. There is no certainty in this life. The only certainty is... uncertainty!
Patience and Discipline (Ability to Do Nothing) - Every profitable trader uses these two terms (patience and discipline) when asked how they are profitable. When a beginner hears this, he rarely understands what this means. Discipline means doing something even when you dont want to do it, or doing something you dont want to do. Patience means waiting for your turn, or waiting for something to happen.
But we all want to trade right? Yes of course, that is what we do as traders. But having discipline means not trading when the trading is not good, even though you want to. And having patience means waiting for the good trading to return again. In other words, when the time is not right you must do nothing. If your edge is not present; there is no edge and no action to make. When the market is not offering what you want, or is confusing, you must develop the ability to wait, and do nothing until the time is right again.
This idea of "doing nothing" stokes a fear in most people, especially in todays give me distractions, social media world. They say "Well what am i supposed to do if i am doing nothing?" Doing nothing seems contrary to getting what you want, getting somewhere. In and outside of the trading world everyone believes in order to be a "trader" you must trade - constantly. This is why most traders lose money. Because they do not understand that there is a time for doing absolutely nothing. And that time is most of the time!
See more on understanding markets (Price Action Trading) and yourself (Trading Psychology)at my website below.
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