Three Psychological Traits Of Successful Traders

One of the key factor in the success of any trader is psychology. Many beginner traders put together a winning strategy, yet fail to achieve long-term profitability as a result of poor implementation. There are a number of key listings every successful trader has, and most unsuccessful merchants lack, that cause enable consistent jurisdiction consistent strategic implementation, and in turn, long-term success. Never fear however! These are hits that, with practice, nearly anyone can learn. Here are the three most important to get you started.

Trait Number One: Patience

Every trader needs patience. Why? Because the market does not work itself around your schedule. Think about it – what are the chances that the exact moment you load up your charting software is the right time to enter or enter a trade? Almost nonexistent. More likely is that you will need to wait for a pattern to develop, or price to reach a trendline; or on the other side of the trade, price to hit your profit target. Impatient traders will both enter and exit trades too early. This leads to unnecessary losses and missed profits; two sure-fire paths to a blow up.

Trait Number Two: Faith

This sounds a little preachy, but every trader needs to have faith in two things: themselves, and their strategy. Having faith in yourself is important because you need to trust your analysis. If you are always double guessing a bias you have formed, and your reason behind it, you will end up never be able to pull the trigger on a trade. This will lead to missed opportunity. Having faith in your strategy is equally as important, as it allows to you follow its rules without questioning them. A profitable strategy is only profitable over the long term, and only if its rules are maintained. Changing just one part of a complex approach will alter its outcome. Think butterfly effect.

Trait Number Three: Humility

Humility is important, mainly because it allows you to remain objective. It is important to realize that the market is always right, which by definition means that you are not. The quickest way to rack up losses in the market is to allow previous losses to influence your decisions. If you chase profits after a string of losing trades, you will inevitably make bad trading decisions, and these decisions will hamper your long term profitability. There is no reason to feel bad if you lose, every strategy loses; you should only feel bad if it came about as the result of an emotionally driven trade.