Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Successful Trader

 It is a well known fact that the area of trading and investing brings wishful thinking, over exuberance and self delusion to the fore. If you have done any trading psychology training you will know what I am talking about.

Things are put into perspective  when you remind yourself that most of the writers and speakers on the subject of trading have never earned a living trading or investing.

It is a fact that investing and its racy cousin trading are areas where everyone can be an expert without training. Most new traders vastly underestimate what it takes to become a consistently successful trader.

Most of us lack the ability to assess ourselves objectively. Understanding your own psychology and the psychology of the markets is a skill that one needs to develop. It is your trading edge. It also requires training to learn to stay detached from your ego's story and is a basic requirement if you want to be a good investor and trader..

The vast majority of people, 95%, lose money in the markets. Today's market conditions are more difficult than they have been in the past. The need for discipline, knowledge of market dynamics and sound trading  psychology are more essential than ever before.

With trading, more so than with other professions, your psychology is key to success.

You can only be successful in trading and investing if you can handle yourself. This means that you must be willing to work on yourself to acquire a trading mind set. Trading is basically about self mastery and this discovery comes as a shock to many new traders.

A trading mind set is calm, quiet, Zen like. It has no concept of the future, as the future is always uncertain. The trading mind can wait and is present in the moment. It is comfortable with waiting and  when the right opportunity presents itself  it is ready to pounce. There is no hesitation, but just clarity, certainty and flawless action.

A trading mind set is about independence.

It does not matter what the papers are saying, or what investment advisors think. You are only in conference with yourself. There is no competition, but you are competing against yourself, or should I be saying with yourself?

As a daytrader your ability to act quickly on limited information is vital. So is your ability to foresee change. Most of us are not comfortable  with change, yet in order to be good at trading and investing you should be aware that this is an essential skill you must master.

Trading and investment are basically about managing risk and not about forecasting the future.

You must understand risk. Risk is not so much about winning and losing, but about limiting exposure to the market in the event of things going against your expectations. Trades will go against you. You will encounter slippage and you may also find yourself in positions that go limit up, or limit down. It happens to the best of us.

How well do you know yourself? Are you at peace with yourself? How is your relationship with money?  Can you forgive yourself even if you lose several times in a row? Ultimately, every trading decision you take is a decision about you. How you  see yourself, how your inner talk  supports you and your view of things around you is the most important aspect of your life as successful trader or investor.

Trading mastery always begins with the mastery of the self, it begins with your trading psychology.

Are you willing to work on yourself and be that person who will be good at trading or investing before you even start looking at charts? Are you willing to learn how universal forces operate in the financial markets and in your life and learn how to use this knowledge to your advantage? Are you willing to do what is required to become the person who is a master in their chosen field? Do you have the vision and confidence to know that you can be comfortable with feeling uncofortable a lot of the time?

If the answer to these questions is "yes" you have takenthe first step on the road to trading and investment success.