Do you know the one quality that you should have which will make you grow constantly in Forex trading? Do you know that lacking this one quality will make you stuck in a plateau?
Many traders who do not see improvements anymore don’t understand that they need to work on this one quality. It is nothing but a good trading discipline.
If you think you are stuck without any further growth then this post will be an eye-opener for you. Once you understand what is discussed here, you can apply it in action; you will start seeing improvements pretty soon.
Forex trading discipline is one of the most important traits that a Forex trader should have to succeed in Forex trading. But trading discipline is also one of the hardest things to master.
Laziness and negligence can be the biggest enemies of trading discipline and can hinder your growth. Since trading is mostly home-based, the nature of trading itself can increase your laziness.
We all know how discipline plays a very important role in education and in the workplace. It is also crucial to ensure that you survive in the Forex market and achieve your goals with higher efficiency and less stress.
According to Mark Douglas, author of Trading in the Zone, self-discipline is nothing but a mental technique to redirect our focus of attention to the object of our goal or desire, when that goal or desire conflicts with some other component of our mental environment.
For example, you may want to sleep or fool around on an important day when a good action is expected in the market. Discipline helps you to take your inclination away from the desire to sleep and makes you focus on what you need to do.
Self-discipline is not an inborn trait. You can actually practice and develop a good trading discipline if you work hard enough.
It is true that it may seem difficult at first. But once you strictly follow your schedule and maintain discipline for about a month, it will become your second nature. Here are some steps to develop a trading discipline.
1. Set a concrete goal
In order to be disciplined in your endeavor, you must first set a concrete goal. Can you travel anywhere if you don’t know where you want to reach? Trading without a goal in mind can take you nowhere.
So it is very important to set a goal first. Only a clearly decided goal can set you in a motion that constantly goes forward in the direction of growth.
Decide what exactly you want to achieve and put it in writing. It is better to write it down as a mission statement and stick it right above the screen that you usually work on.
When you write something, it goes deep inside your unconscious mind; it gets reinforced whenever you read what you have written, giving a clear idea in your mind.
When you choose a goal, make sure that it is realistic. Having unrealistic and impractical goals will give you disappointment and discourage you from trading further. So don’ try to become a millionaire in a few months or dream about doubling your account in 30 days!
Setting a concrete and realistic goal is the first step to achieve a good trading discipline. If you haven’t set a concrete goal, do that today!
2. Keep a trading journal
Maintaining a trading journal and noting down your progress is a good idea to keep your trading discipline strong. Recording everything in a trading journal also lets you review it later.
You can write your mission statement, everyday plans, details of trades placed, market observations and many other things in your journal. There are really no restrictions on what you should write.
Why is journaling so important? Since our memory has limits, we don’t remember all the useful ideas we get in our minds or all the useful observations that we make. Unless we write them down, we would forget most of the information.
When you review your trading journal later, you can learn many things. It helps you a great deal in understanding your past performance.
So, a trading journal helps you to be motivated and keep moving towards your goal. If you are not using one, get started right away.
3. Create and stick to a schedule as part of your trading discipline
If you work a regular job, you will be expected to strictly follow the timings of your workplace and your work schedule. In Forex, you have the liberty to be your own boss and trade at any time.
But this may also lead to negligence. Human beings are not good at sticking to their schedule if there is a lack of supervision, co-operation, and assistance. A home-based environment is not well suited to manage one’s time if there is no conscious effort.
It is very important to create and stick to a schedule to do anything in an organized way. So decide the timings and the number of hours that you will be trading every day and follow it as perfectly as possible. This is an important thing to keep in mind if you want to develop a trading discipline.
Do you know the market is only active during specific hours? Trade during these hours to get better results.
4. Be patient
Trading requires a lot of patience. If you don’t have enough patience, it is very hard to survive.
First, you have to have the patience to wait for a quality trade set up. Many new traders do not have that and they end up chasing the market. The market is not filled with trading opportunities all the time. So you have to wait until you see a good set up, which usually takes time to materialize.
Second, you have to be very patient and wait a long time before you can see good results in trading. Many new traders are likely to give up in the beginning. Success in trading takes many years and nothing happens overnight.
Aristotle said that patience is bitter but the fruit is sweet. That is true. In order to taste the fruit of success in the Forex market, a good amount of patience is required.
When there are no deadlines in trading, why should you worry about accomplishing anything very quickly? Nobody would fire you if you do not meet your goals on time. So you have all the time in the world to succeed.
Developing patience develops trading discipline and makes you focused on your goal. So patience is very important if you want to develop your trading discipline.
