Two scenarios to choose from if you want to become good at trading and anything else

1) Scenario 1

  • Keep your head down
  • Follow instructions
  • Obey your boss
  • Suck it up

2) Scenario 2

  • Be persistent
  • Follow your dream
  • Be generous
  • Be remarkable

Which scenario will you go after?

Is scenario 1 more appealing to you because you are used to follow the well-known track?

Doesn’t scenario 2 make more sense if you want to improve your results as a trader?

I believe that one should follow his/her own feeling about what is right or wrong. Why are there so many traders that fail in trading?

I believe that a big role of that plays their predisposition to Scenario 1. In other words, they don’t feel safe outside their comfort zone.

Imagine you were going to be replaced in your job by someone else in one week

Supply and Demand Zones

Would you have done the same amount of work?

Would you have stayed a bit later at night and gone this extra mile?

If you had the mental image of being replaceable, would you be so relaxed about your final results?

Most people in “secure” jobs believe that this is the only way ahead of them. They don’t plan for the “ifs” scenarios; they don’t consider the fact that they are just an easily replaceable number for their employer.

How much better you could be if this was the only way you were thinking:

What should I learn/do/improve if I was going to be replaced next year. Do I like what I am doing or I would better master a new skill and move on myself.

Whether you are working in a regular 9 to 5 job or are a day trader, it does not matter- the principle stays the same!

What would you have done yourself?

Would you dare improve?

Will mediocre results be still good enough for you

Shortcuts?

and then more

#shortcuts

#shortcuts

#shortcuts

You make all the choices, so in the end the one to blame is not the market or the bad weather, but YOU and only YOU!

You should not settle for average!

You should not be happy with just a “decent” profit.

You should be thinking, what if I could have made that much more money and I could donate half to a charity of my choice.

How much better would and could you become then?

Why do traders settle for just mediocre results? Trading is not much different than other professions in that aspect.

If you were in employment and your boss was offering you an appealing reward you could go the extra mile and try to improve and work harder.

Can’t you be your own employer offering yourself an imaginary reward? How much harder would you work for it then?

Learn a skill that will make you irreplaceable

Have you ever asked yourself the question why they never teach you at school how to:

  1. Lead
  2. Solve interesting problems

Why don’t you start by exploring new fields and new roads?

Sometimes, when you are too involved in trading you tend to forget that there is another parallel universe that exists out there, too.

It is great if you have a winning trading strategy, but boredom is a bad distractor.

Why don’t you improve your other skills and learn programming or improve your physical strength?

Anything outside of trading that could actually help you to become a better trader is welcome!

Never stop learning, even if that is nothing to do with trading. In this way, you will improve your cognitive powers, which in turn means better trading results and less overtrading.

Not necessarily a trading system

E. Hemingway

What can make you a better trader is not necessarily a better trading system.

A better version of yourself will certainly improve your trading results.

Work on your weak links.

As Hemingway wrote in his great masterpiece Farewell to Arms:

“The world breaks everyone, and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills.

Becoming insanely good at trading requires much more flexibility than they teach us in school.

Good traders are good people more than anything else!

Learn how to be good to others and you will receive so much more in return…

Giving back… and then some more

It took me a while to appreciate the benefits of giving back.

If you want to become good at trading, you should give yourselves hard targets.

If you want to improve at trading, these targets should be bigger with each following year.

Don’t forget to be realistic, too!

Bigger targets does not mean unrealistic targets. Bigger targets equal more work and much more persistence.

Money should not be your sole motivation. Helping others, who can help others would give you immensely higher rate of satisfaction.

It takes practice and years, but it always starts with a very small first step.

If it is too late now, do it tomorrow. Promise yourselves to give back anything (no matter how small) to someone in need.

Trading should be perceived as a lonely job, but there is so much more about it and around it than just making money.

Being good to others is just a way to express your thankfulness for a good trading day. It is also a great way to stay humble and stay out of trading trouble.

Be grateful

ALWAYS be grateful!

I have only recently discovered the power of giving back and it really is life-changing.

Being thankful for where you are and who you are is probably one of the factors that will make you impossibly good at trading.

Never forget where you started from.

Always enjoy the small things in life.

Money should not be a goal, just a means of improving your life and the lives of the people around you/people in need.

The best traders I have known have also been the humblest ones.

Help others as you were helped once when you were just starting out.

Find someone who needs your support and become their mentor.

It is only through mentorship that we truly realise who we really are and where our weak links are, so we can work on them and become impossibly good at trading.

Always be humble!


This material is written for educational purposes only. By no means do any of its contents recommend, advocate or urge the buying, selling or holding of any financial instrument whatsoever. Trading and Investing involves high levels of risk. The author expresses personal opinions and will not assume any responsibility whatsoever for the actions of the reader. The author may or may not have positions in Financial Instruments discussed in this newsletter. Future results can be dramatically different from the opinions expressed herein. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Editors’ Picks

EUR/USD flat lines below 1.1900; divergent Fed-ECB expectations offer support

EUR/USD flat lines below 1.1900; divergent Fed-ECB expectations offer support

The EUR/USD pair struggles to capitalize on the overnight bounce from the 1.1835-1.1830 region and oscillates in a narrow band during the Asian session on Thursday. Spot prices currently trade around the 1.1875 area, remaining nearly unchanged for the day and staying within striking distance of an over one-week high, reached on Tuesday, amid mixed cues.

GBP/USD slips heading into the Thursday trading window

GBP/USD slips heading into the Thursday trading window

The Pound Sterling pulled back from four-year highs on Wednesday, weighed down by a combination of Bank of England dovishness and UK political uncertainty, even as the US Dollar weakened on soft labor market revisions. 

USD/JPY returns to the red below 153.00 after Japan's verbal intervention

USD/JPY returns to the red below 153.00 after Japan's verbal intervention

USD/JPY attracts fresh sellers and falls back below 153.00 in the Asian session on Thursday. The US Dollar reverses the strong jobs data-led recovery, weighing on the pair amid the ongoing bullish momentum in the Japanese Yen, helped by Japanese verbal intervention. Japan's PM Sanae Takaichi's landslide election victory also keeps the local currency buoyed. The attention now remains on Friday's US Consumer Price Index inflation report.


Editors’ Picks

AUD/USD stalls near 0.7150 after RBA Bullock's comments

AUD/USD stalls near 0.7150 after RBA Bullock's comments

AUD/USD has paused its uptick to near 0.7150 in the Asian session on Thursday, at a three-year high. Cautious remarks from RBA Governor Bullock seem to cap the Aussie's upside. However, renewed US Dollar weakness cushions the pair's downside ahead of US Jobless Claims data. 

USD/JPY returns to the red below 153.00 after Japan's verbal intervention

USD/JPY returns to the red below 153.00 after Japan's verbal intervention

USD/JPY attracts fresh sellers and falls back below 153.00 in the Asian session on Thursday. The US Dollar reverses the strong jobs data-led recovery, weighing on the pair amid the ongoing bullish momentum in the Japanese Yen, helped by Japanese verbal intervention. Japan's PM Sanae Takaichi's landslide election victory also keeps the local currency buoyed. The attention now remains on Friday's US Consumer Price Index inflation report.

Gold holds losses near $5,050 despite renewed USD selling

Gold holds losses near $5,050 despite renewed USD selling

Gold price trades in negative territory near $5,050 in Thursday's Asian session. The precious metal faces headwinds from stronger-than-expected US employment data, even as the US Dollar sees a bout of fresh selling. All eyes now remain on the next batch of US labor statistics. 

Crypto trades through a confidence reset

Crypto trades through a confidence reset

The cryptocurrency market is navigating a liquidity-driven reset rather than a narrative-driven rally. Bitcoin, Ethereum and major altcoins remain under pressure even as new exchange-traded fund filings continue and selected inflow days appear on the tape.

The market trades the path not the past

The market trades the path not the past

The payroll number did not just beat. It reset the tone. 130,000 vs. 65,000 expected, with a 35,000 whisper. 79 of 80 economists leaning the wrong way. Unemployment and underemployment are edging lower. For all the statistical fog around birth-death adjustments and seasonal quirks, the core message was unmistakable. The labour market is not cracking.

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