‘Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime’.
Play the postcast:
For a trader, a system or method is akin to being given a fish, this may feed them for a while, however it is optimising how they are and developing their risk behaviours, skills and processes, and building their ‘inner game’, which enables them to live off markets for a lifetime.
At AlphaMind we believe that developing a broad base of understanding about how markets work and function, how people personally interface with markets and risk, and ultimately how they develop and apply their "inner game" to trading, that is where success comes from.
In our first AlphaMind Podcast of 2021 (attached to this article), we shared 10 powerful insights and pieces of wisdom we felt would help our listeners to improve their chances of becoming more successful as traders. These are focused predominantly on the ‘inner game’ aspects of trading and are based on our own struggles and extensive experiences over many years in financial markets plus thousands of hours of conversations with professional traders in our coaching programmes.
Our 10 pieces of Killer Insights and Enduring Wisdom for Traders
-
Make space for yourself and periodically step back from the screens and markets to be more present as a trader, more effective as an individual, and more grounded in the moment.
-
Create ‘tripwires’ to break you out of bad habits and negative thinking patterns. A tripwire is a tool or process you create which acts as a reminder to snap out of a negative mindset, or an unhelpful autopilot state.
-
Think of trading as a process and develop a process orientation rather than a results orientation. Traders can get good results from bad processes and bad results from good processes, that is the nature of trading. However, it is good processes which matter. Good processes build good habits. Good habits lead to better results over time.
-
Make learning lessons of your experiences, digest these and apply them to your work. If you aren’t doing this, then you are missing out on powerful lessons. Use a journal to support this process.
-
Look Forward Not Down: A positive proactive mindset is vital. Self-belief and self-trust are vital characteristics for a trader and help foster a proactive mindset which looks forward. If you lack the faith in yourself to succeed, you are more likely to look down. Looking down makes the challenge much tougher.
-
There is no such thing as perfection in trading. Avoiding trying to perfect trades: optimise and be happy with ‘good enough’ not perfect.
-
Remaining on plan is difficult, but good planning remains vital for trading success. Military strategists say ‘no plan survives first contact with the enemy’, but they also know that ‘planning is essential’. Planning should extend to more than just the trade idea, it includes risk management, contingencies, exit strategies, and much more.
-
‘Letting Go’ is the secret sauce or great traders. Practice detachment, learn to walk away, be willing to recognise your fallibility and do not dwell on errors. Practice detachment. Work on becoming detached to redundant ideas, don’t marry a trade or a belief, let go of attachments to outcomes, good and bad. Above all ‘Let go’ of your ego and any attachment to ideals of entitlement.
-
Put effort into developing how you generate insights. Be curious and remain curious rather than think you have the solutions. Clearing the head and mind, and taking actions to do this, becomes a powerful source of insights which lead to better trading and more effective performance.
-
Understanding your reason for why you are trading, which market you are trading and why you are trading the way you are. Look to other markets, products, styles, timeframes, and considering the options open to you.
AlphaMind do not offer trading or investment advice and do not take responsibility for any investment or trading actions or decisions taken by clients or any observers of our material in any form of media, either now or in future.
Editors’ Picks
EUR/USD holds gains above 1.0700, as key US data loom
EUR/USD holds gains above 1.0700 in the European session on Thursday. Renewed US Dollar weakness offsets the risk-off market environment, supporting the pair ahead of the key US GDP and PCE inflation data.
GBP/USD extends recovery above 1.2500, awaits US GDP data
GBP/USD is catching a fresh bid wave, rising above 1.2500 in European trading on Thursday. The US Dollar resumes its corrective downside, as traders resort to repositioning ahead of the high-impact US advance GDP data for the first quarter.
Gold price edges higher amid weaker USD and softer risk tone, focus remains on US GDP
Gold price (XAU/USD) attracts some dip-buying in the vicinity of the $2,300 mark on Thursday and for now, seems to have snapped a three-day losing streak, though the upside potential seems limited.
XRP extends its decline, crypto experts comment on Ripple stablecoin and benefits for XRP Ledger
Ripple extends decline to $0.52 on Thursday, wipes out weekly gains. Crypto expert asks Ripple CTO how the stablecoin will benefit the XRP Ledger and native token XRP.
US Q1 GDP Preview: Economic growth set to remain firm in, albeit easing from Q4
The United States Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is seen expanding at an annualized rate of 2.5% in Q1. The current resilience of the US economy bolsters the case for a soft landing.
RECOMMENDED LESSONS
Making money in forex is easy if you know how the bankers trade!
Discover how to make money in forex is easy if you know how the bankers trade!
5 Forex News Events You Need To Know
In the fast moving world of currency markets, it is extremely important for new traders to know the list of important forex news...
Top 10 Chart Patterns Every Trader Should Know
Chart patterns are one of the most effective trading tools for a trader. They are pure price-action, and form on the basis of underlying buying and...
7 Ways to Avoid Forex Scams
The forex industry is recently seeing more and more scams. Here are 7 ways to avoid losing your money in such scams: Forex scams are becoming frequent. Michael Greenberg reports on luxurious expenses, including a submarine bought from the money taken from forex traders. Here’s another report of a forex fraud. So, how can we avoid falling in such forex scams?
What Are the 10 Fatal Mistakes Traders Make
Trading is exciting. Trading is hard. Trading is extremely hard. Some say that it takes more than 10,000 hours to master. Others believe that trading is the way to quick riches. They might be both wrong. What is important to know that no matter how experienced you are, mistakes will be part of the trading process.