Mimic These 12 Traits Of Successful Forex Traders To Gain An Unfair Advantage Over Struggling Traders And Finally Grasp Success With Both Hands
There are many traits a trader must have in order to be successful. Instead of trying to figure everything out on your own, simply mimic the traits of already successful Forex traders.
Here are the 12 most important traits (in no particular order):
Successful Traders Take Responsibility For Their Actions
Regardless of whether you are trading a strategy you create yourself, using an already profitable trader’s strategy or following signals provided by software or a real human being… you are the one responsible for every action you take.
The final decision to push the BUY or SELL button and how you act afterward is a responsibility that lies squarely on your shoulders.
Blaming the market or others for your failure is not going to help you become a better trader. But once you take responsibility for your actions, you can learn and practice until you possess the skills of a profitable trader.
Taking responsibility leads to growth.
Successful Traders Use A Strategy That Fits Their Lifestyle, Personality And Risk Tolerance
In order to succeed, a successful trader needs to think long term.
They must participate in the Forex market in a way that fits their lifestyle, personality and risk tolerance. This is the only way they are going to last over the long run.
If you trade in a way that makes fitting trading into your life difficult, it will ultimately not be worth it and you will quit. If you do not trade in a way that fits you personally or are risking too much for your emotional capacity, you will get frustrated and quit.
The only way to succeed is to find a way to trade that you can actually perform on a day to day, month to month and year to year basis.
Successful Traders Plan The Trade And Trade The Plan
Successful traders do not trade the currency markets based on what they think. They are not making random decisions and hoping for the best. They have a plan and a set of strict rules for placing and managing trades.
Likewise, successful traders have the discipline and patience necessary to stick to the plan. No trading strategy wins all the time.
And successful traders understand this and stick to their plan even when trading is not going their way.
So, first you must have a plan, and then you must stick to it if you want to succeed.
Successful Traders Believe They Will Succeed
Successful traders understand the road to accumulating the profits they desire is going to be more difficult than they may like. They need to be educated. They need to practice and make mistakes. They need to put in the time necessary in order to develop their trading skills.
They know they are not going to become successful just by “testing things out”, “giving it a try” or by “discovering a secret, trick or gimmick”.
Becoming a successful trader is not easy and does take time. But they also know learning to trade the Forex market is well worth the effort.
In order to get through the entire process, the successful Forex trader understands the task before them… and they believe they will succeed in the end. They are prepared from the start to do what it takes to succeed. And they know it will all be worth the effort once they do.
After all, if the trader does not think they are going to succeed… who will?
Successful Traders Focus On Trading Perfectly, Not On Money
Successful traders understand the only way to become consistently profitable is to develop the trading skills they need to trade their strategy perfectly in an unforgiving market. Success is about being consistent.
And consistency comes with trading a well thought out strategy perfectly every time.
Focus on trading the strategy perfectly and you will develop the correct skills. And with the correct skills, the money will come. But if you focus on the money first, you will end up making decisions based on your emotional attachment to money, and not the strategy.
This will lead to bad trading habits sabotaging your trading and keep you from becoming consistently profitable over time.
Successful Traders Keep Trading A Part Of A Balanced Life
Successful traders understand growing wealthy through currency trading is a marathon, not a sprint. While currency trading is arguably one of the most accessible and fastest ways to grow wealth, it still takes time.
Therefore, trading needs to be a part of your life, but should not consume it.
If you focus all your time and energy on trading, it just won’t seem worth it over the long run, no matter how much profit you accumulate. Keep trading in the background of your life while continuing to work, spending time with family and enjoying life, and you’ll be a lot happier.
Successful Traders Use Money They Can Afford To Lose
It takes money to make money. And there is a certain amount of money you need to invest in the currency market before you have the chance of seeing the gains you desire.
But this does not mean you should risk money you can’t afford to lose or that is designated for something else.
Successful traders understand growing wealth is a process. It is fine to start small and grow your account over time. Plus, all traders know there is a risk involved every time they click the BUY or SELL button… and are smart not to put at risk money that cannot be lost.
Successful Traders Define Realistic, Achievable Goals And Trade To Achieve Those Goals
Successful traders know participating in the Forex market is not a “get rich quick” scheme or path to instant riches.Therefore, they base their goals in reality and set their sights on gains that are actually achievable.
Impressive profits are made by achieving your goals over and over again.
And that is a lot easier to do when your goals are easy to achieve in the first place.
On the other hand, if you set your goals too high based on unrealistic expectations, you will start a cycle of failure that leads to abandoning trading altogether.
Successful Traders Are Consistent
Successful traders know they need to master one trading methodology and acquire the knowledge, experience and skills necessary to trade the strategy perfectly over and over again. The only way this can be done is by finding a trading method that they will stick with over time.
They must be consistent in their trading if they want to master their preferred trading method.
Jumping from one trading strategy to another is the fastest way to fail as a trader. If you never trade any one strategy for any length of time, you will never master it. Each new strategy you “try” will only be good until a loss or streak of losses make you lose confidence.
You’ll never be consistent if you are constantly switching from one trading method to another.
Successful Traders Keep A Trade Journal
Successful traders understand that keeping a record of their trading is one of the best learning tools a trader can have. A trade journal is much more than just a record of your trades and what happened.
It can also be used to track you as a trader and your reaction to different market conditions and trading outcomes.
Becoming a successful trader is a growing process, and keeping a trade journal is the best way to document your progress and see where you need to make improvements as a trader.
Successful Traders Develop The Ability To Accept Loss
Nobody likes to lose. But successful traders understand they are not going to win every trade. There are going to be losing trades, losing days, losing weeks and losing months along the way. Losing is just a part of trading.
The ability to accept loss and keep moving forward is the most important trait a successful trader can develop. Yes, losing trades is not fun and it will impact you emotionally.
But successful Forex traders do not let losses keep them from trading their strategy perfectly into the future.
The only way to negate the effect losing has on you emotionally is to have a trade plan you trust and trade it according to the rules every time. This way the losses are not personal, just something that happened due to the current market conditions and the strategy you are trading.
Successful Traders Are Patient And Disciplined
Successful Forex traders know there is no substitution for patience and discipline. Yes, we would all like to make huge quantities of money very quickly and never suffer a loss.
But that is just not realistic.
We must be patient and let our trading strategy grow our accounts over time. And we must stay disciplined and trade our strategy perfectly, even when things just don’t seem to be going our way.
In Conclusion
You should now have an idea of the characteristics of a successful trader. Keep these characteristics in mind as you move forward with your trading journey. When you experience the urge to act in a way contrary to these characteristics… stop yourself.
The more you practice adhering to these characteristics, the more they become second nature. And before you know it, you are the embodiment of a successful trader without even having to try.
