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=='''[[General Trading Psychology]]'''==
=='''[[General Trading Psychology]]'''==


In the following Wiki on [[General Trading Psychology]] we will explore:


===The 3 “P”s===
* [[General_Trading_Psychology#The_3_“P”s | The 3 “P”s]]
* [[General_Trading_Psychology#Productive_Approaches_to_Losses | Productive Approaches to Losses]]
* [[General_Trading_Psychology#Victim_Mentality | Victim Mentality]]
* [[General_Trading_Psychology#Control_Your_Emotions | Control Your Emotions]]
* [[General_Trading_Psychology#Mental_Rehearsal | Mental Rehearsal]]
* [[General_Trading_Psychology#The_Subconscious_Mind | The Subconscious Mind]]
* [[General_Trading_Psychology#Beliefs | Beliefs]]
* [[General_Trading_Psychology#The_Mind_of_a_Losing_Trader | The Mind of a Losing Trader]]


'''Be POSITIVE:'''


* No one wins all the time!
[[General Trading Psychology | CLICK HERE]] to access the [[General Trading Psychology]] Wiki.
* If you want to improve your results you must make small course corrections through your trading results and feedback.
* Hardships and losses do not equal failure.
* Losses are stepping stones to your success.
* A loss is down payment on your next winning trade!
* Learn to unlock the lessons in your losses and you will unlock the door to success.
* You must learn to crawl before you sprint.
 
 
'''Be PASSIONATE:'''
 
* Get excited about your trading business.
* Feel that you are on your way to becoming a master trader.
* Each trading day is a gift for you to discover something new and potentially profit from.
* Try to believe that the market exists for one reason and one reason alone:  To serve you!
* Having controlled enthusiasm is the key.
* Have fun and enjoy the [[Developing_your_Trading_Process | process]] for when you look back on it when you are a true professional you will be able to see all the things that you thought were a waste of time then that turned out to be the reasons you succeeded.
 
 
'''Be PERSISTENT:'''
 
* Every hardship and loss carries with it a benefit that you must learn on your journey to becoming a true professional trader.
* It is simply not possible for you to fail until you decide that you have failed and given up.
* Think of persistence as being like a cork.  If you put a cork in a glass of water it will float.  Even if you push it down the cork will keep pushing back at you until it finds a way around your blockade and floats right back to the top.  The cork is the most persistent object on earth.  No matter what you do, the cork will find a way to get back on top.  Be like a cork!  If you have to, tape a cork to your trading screen so that whenever you hit a rough patch you will know in your heart of hearts that you are a cork and that this rough patch will too pass because of your unrelenting resolve to succeed.  Be a cork!
 
 
===Productive Approaches to Losses===
 
Remember that no one wins 100% of the time.  This means that you will have to learn to accept losses as part of the [[trading]] game.  These losses will always come in the form of a well thought out stop loss policy that was determined before you ever entered the trade. 
 
If you are holding overnight or over the weekend positions there is always the possibility market may move or gap significantly against your position and cause larger losses than you may have intended.  Do you have a catastrophe plan?  If not, think about making one because there is nothing worse than losing more money than you intended and not knowing how to handle this larger loss. 
 
Every loss is a step towards your goal of becoming a consistently successful trader.  There is something to learn from every loss that you have.  Make no doubt about it, the lesson is there.  Make it a goal to find at least one lesson from each loss.  Did you make a mistake entering or exiting?  Did you miss a key news point?
 
Write out and keep track of all the lessons that you have learned.  Study these lessons repeatedly to see if there are any common errors you are making that can be easily fixed.  If the errors are a result of your method then you may need to adjust your trading plan to accommodate this new discovery.
 
Each trade should be completely independent of one another.  No prior trades should ever have an effect on the current trade you are in because they have nothing to do with one another. 
 
Never carry any baggage over to your next trade.  After a loss, you will need to learn to reset yourself back to zero before you place a new trade.  If you have to, give yourself a break and step away from the computer until you are ready to come back fresh.
 
 
===Victim Mentality===
 
Having a victim mentality is one of the worst reactions that anyone can have in regard to anything in their life, especially in [[trading]].  People who feel that the market is out to get them are extremely weak-minded.  This limiting belief is one that always allows for the trader to have someone else to blame for their own shortcomings.  In effect, the trader with the victim mentality will never have to admit that they were wrong about any particular trade. 
 
Self-pity has no place in the master trader’s world and does not serve any positive purpose.  If you are feeling bad or upset about a trade it would serve you much better to take a break and come back when you are ready to learn from that loss.  Remember that your last loss is a down payment on your next win!
 
Realize that you and only you are responsible for every trade that you take.  If you place a trade on the advice of someone else, guess what, you made the ultimate decision to place that trade.  You are in complete control of every trade you take and you alone have the power to make your trading decisions.  Having a victim mentality will only serve to be self-fulfilling so don’t fall into that trap.
 
 
===Control Your Emotions===
 
It is very important to make sure you have calibrated your mind for success before you place a trade.  Take stock of your emotions and how you are feeling before and during a trade.  What is your physiology like?  What is your mind focused on?  Are the answers to these two questions conducive to good quality [[trading]]?  Make sure that you are being objective in your [[Risk_Management | trade management]].
 
Control what you can control and let go of the things that you cannot.  You have the power within you to control your emotional state while you are [[trading]] and should never invite negative feelings into your mind during a trade.
 
Make sure that you have a plan that is strong enough to answer anything that the market throws at you.  Always keep objective while analyzing the [[Sentiment_Analysis | sentiment]] and [[Price_Action_Analysis | price information]] and look to update your [[Risk_Management | trade management]] should a new catalyst hit the market that is contrary to your trade.
 
Don’t count the [[US_dollar | dollars]] that you are up or down while in a trade.  Doing this is one of the quickest routes to confusion and emotional instability during a trade.  If you absolutely need to, find a way to hide the blotter that shows your profit and loss of your open positions.  This takes away any temptation that you may have.  Profit and loss should never be the reason behind your [[Risk_Management | trade management]].
 
 
===Mental Rehearsal===
 
The mind is not capable of distinguishing between something that is vividly imagined versus something that happens in the physical world.  The mind can only understand the stimulus that is fed to it.  The source of that stimulus is not relevant to the mind. 
 
It can be quite beneficial to have a [[Pre-Trade_Considerations | pre-trading]] visualization exercise that you do for 10 to 30 minutes right before you begin [[trading]].  This can be done right before bed as well.  The key is to run over your trading plan for the day in your mind and try to see and feel how you will react to the situations that you will be faced with.
 
See as much detail in your visualization as you possibly can.  See the [[Trading_Tools#Charting_Software | charts]] setting up and then running in your direction.  See your profit statement at the end of the trading day.  Feel the feelings of trading successfully and see yourself as a true master trader.
 
Make sure that you are organized and focused on the tasks at hand and take stock of your emotions prior to [[trading]]. 
 
 
===The Subconscious Mind===
 
To become a professional trader you need to have your subconscious mind engaged in your [[trading]].  You can do this by imagining that your conscious mind is the captain of a ship and your subconscious mind is the crew that is taking directions to help steer the ship. 
 
Make requests to your subconscious mind before retiring at night and write those requests down so that your conscious mind can continue to remind your subconscious mind about those requests. 
 
You must work hard and work smart but you will need to take time off to recharge and allow all your hard work to be picked up by your subconscious mind. 
 
Refer to the [[Trading_psychology#The_4_Stages_of_Competence | 4 stages of competence]] section again and you will be reminded that the highest level of [[trading]] mastery comes at the point when your conscious mind no longer is a requirement to have great trading performance.  The goal is to become unconsciously competent.
 
Train your mind to look for reasons to stay in or add to a position that is profitable.  Your mind should look for reasons to get out of a trade if it’s not going in your favour.
 
 
===Beliefs===
 
Your current beliefs are an accumulation of all your past experiences and influences.  They are built both directly and indirectly into your mind.  They are filters that your mind can perceive in the physical world and can act more like a deletion filter.  Your mind makes it so that you will only see what is in alignment with your beliefs so that you can confirm to yourself that they are true and/or you are right.
 
Your beliefs must be evaluated on how useful they are to your trading success, not if they are right or wrong. 
 
You have the power to change your beliefs.  Don’t get stuck in the trap of trying to prove that your beliefs are true or correct.  You need to change your beliefs so they are conducive to making money in the markets.  What really is your reality?  You need to decide and make that choice.  Beliefs are something that you can change. 
 
Here are a few beliefs that can empower your [[trading]] if you truly believe them:
 
* Life and the Universe we live in are perfect!
* The markets are my friends and are here to serve me!
* Losing trades are stepping stones to my goals and dreams.
* Everything that happens in the market is perfect and as it should be based on the collective thoughts and actions of all investors at any given time.
* There are no limits to what I can do in the markets.
* My path and journey to trading mastery is one of the greatest experiences in my life.
* I will not fail!!!
 
 
===The Mind of a Losing Trader===
 
The losing trader thinks that making money [[trading]] is easy and therefore doesn’t think any advanced education is a necessary component to becoming successful.  The reason that the trader may feel this way is that they may have had many prior successes in business before and believe that [[trading]] should be no different.  The problem is that these successes likely won’t help you in [[trading]] because there are few simple and direct answers to questions in [[trading]].  You need to be constantly in tune with the market to be successful and that means analyzing new [[Sentiment_Analysis | sentiment-driven information]] frequently. 
 
Few people give enough respect and treat [[trading]] as the business that it is.  Most traders drift through the trading day with no particular plan of action.  They will tend to chase markets up and down and have no standard set of [[Pre-Trade_Considerations#Basic_Strategy_Rules | rules]] for why they do what they do.
 
Losing traders usually have no [[Risk_Management | money management]] [[Pre-Trade_Considerations#Basic_Strategy_Rules | rules]] and as a consequence tend to suffer large emotional swings while they are [[trading]] and are nervous most of the time about their profits and losses.  They [[The_Basic_Cycle#Stage_4:_Decline/Fear | fear]] the profit will disappear and wind up taking the profit way too early and are too scared to take any losses.  A loss will mean that they must admit they are wrong on a particular trade and this is something that their ego doesn’t agree with.
 
Another problem with losing traders is having too much information or being addicted to trading systems.  This can lead to never sticking with one system which is called [[Trading_psychology#Switching | switching]].  [[Trading_psychology#Switching | Switching]] is where you have a [[Fundamental_and_Sentiment_Trading_Strategies | strategy]], trade it and it doesn’t really work, ditch it, and then go on to find a new [[Fundamental_and_Sentiment_Trading_Strategies | strategy]].  This [[Developing_your_Trading_Process | process]] repeats until your library is full of trading courses.  Each and every [[Fundamental_and_Sentiment_Trading_Strategies | strategy]] that you were sold on tells you that this is the last [[Fundamental_and_Sentiment_Trading_Strategies | strategy]] you will need and it has everything you need to become successful in the financial markets.  You quickly realize that it’s not that simple and move your search to the next surefire thing.  This cycle locks you into a constant stream of losing [[Fundamental_and_Sentiment_Trading_Strategies | strategy]] after losing [[Fundamental_and_Sentiment_Trading_Strategies | strategy]] making it impossible to consistently make a profit in the markets. 
 
[[Trading_psychology#Switching | Switching]] is a major cause for losing traders having no [[Conviction_in_your_Trading | conviction]] in their trading methodologies.  [[Conviction_in_your_Trading | Conviction]] is confidence and the best way to build confidence is to succeed at something consistently over a sustained period of time.  If you constantly switch systems, you will never gain enough confidence to make it as a trader. 
 
The losing trader typically relies exclusively on [[Technical Analysis]] or indicators to make their trading decisions.  In the [[Forex]] market [[Price_Action_Analysis | prices]] are driven by the [[Fundamental_Analysis | fundamentals]] of countries and the policy action the [[Central_banks | central banks]] are taking to grow their economies.  If you ask any big city [[Forex]] trader what indicators he has on his [[Trading_Tools#Charting_Software | charts]] and he might reply something simple such as volume.  The professionals do not rely on a bunch of spaghetti on their [[Trading_Tools#Charting_Software | charts]] to make decisions.  They trade in line with the [[Central_banks | central banks]] and get out when something changes [[Fundamental_Analysis | fundamentally]]. 
 
Exclusively using [[Technical Analysis]] for coming up with trading ideas is for the [[Institutional_and_Retail_Traders | retail trader]], not the winning professional trader.  However, [[Technical Analysis]] can have some small use as a [[Trading_Tools | timing tool]] to get into a trade in the direction of the prevailing [[Fundamental_Analysis | fundamentals]] and [[Sentiment_Analysis | sentiment]]. 
 
In the financial markets, traders should never forget that they are competing against other traders, professional and novice, and the only way that you can continuously make money is by being smarter and more disciplined than your competition.  You are competing against some of the brightest financial minds in the world and they want your money!
 
The losing trader quickly loses and returns any recent gains to the market.  After a large win, the trader’s standards begin to drop and complacency [[The_Basic_Cycle#Stage_2:_Rally/Greed | (greed)]] takes over thinking that this will always be easy.  They get an adrenaline rush from the gain and want to duplicate it and start counting all their gains before they have booked them in the bank as profit.
 
The losing trader desperately tries to recoup any losses as [[The_Basic_Cycle#Stage_4:_Decline/Fear | fear]] sets in and the money lost is setting off such frustration that the trader needs to erase that loss in his mind and on his trading screen at all costs.  They will usually take on bigger positions or more positions, doing whatever they can to quickly erase the loss that just happened.  Changing trading standards to allow for more trades will usually end in more losses and decreased trading performance.
 
Losing traders will stay glued to their screens all day trying to force trade setups that are of lower quality than their trade plan allows for.  They spend very little time preparing for a trading day and almost zero time following up on their trading results.
 
The losing trader always has excuses for why he or she may have lost which are never their own fault.




=='''[[The Psychology of Money Management]]'''==
=='''[[The Psychology of Money Management]]'''==


In the following Wiki on [[The Psychology of Money Management]] we will explore:


===The Basics of Mental Money===
* [[The_Psychology_of_Money_Management#The_Basics_of_Mental_Money | The Basics of Mental Money]]
 
* [[The_Psychology_of_Money_Management#Dollar_Counting | Dollar Counting]]
The psychology of [[Risk_Management | money management]] can be an extremely daunting subject.  Instead of forcing a master’s degree in psychology on you, it might be better to give you a few of the basic forms of mental issues that traders tend to fall into.  After that, we will discuss some steps that you to take to make sure that you do not fall into these same traps. 
* [[The_Psychology_of_Money_Management#Reasons_you_May_be_Thinking_about_the_Money_While_in_a_Trade | Reasons you May be Thinking about the Money While in a Trade]]
 
* [[The_Psychology_of_Money_Management#Overcoming_Temptation | Overcoming Temptation]]
Focusing on the amount of money being made or lost while in a trade is a trap that leads you down a road filled with stress and anxiety that will eventually lead to failure.  Allowing yourself to let a loss go further from your intended stop loss or grabbing at very small profits quickly will only encourage these types of losing habits in future trades.  Once you get into these kinds of bad habits they start to warp your thinking on the next trade, then the next trade, and the next...
 
Before you enter a trade you should have already formed a very good [[Fundamental Analysis]] or [[Sentiment Analysis]] reason and planned out the entire trade from entry to exit for both stop loss and profit objectives.  This allows you to have confidence in that you have a plan that will dictate exactly what to do and how to react no matter what the market throws at you. 
 
Once a trade is entered you should have completely accepted the possibility of the maximum monetary loss that may occur as a result of your well-placed and planned stop loss order.  If you cannot accept the maximum loss before you enter the trade then it’s only going to make the situation worse if you get into the trade anyways.  If you do find yourself in a situation like this you should decrease your position size or try not taking the trade at all. 
 
If you find that you cannot accept the maximum loss after you get into a position, and it’s not working out the way that you had intended, then it may be wise to cut the position size in half.  Doing this should help you focus better but if it doesn’t then it is best to close the position entirely.  Remember, you can always get back in.
 
Every trader will eventually have to accept that losses are and always will be a part of the trading business.  However, trading losses should never get out of control and wipe out your [[Trader_Scouting_and_Prop_Firms_Overview_and_Comparison | account]].  Every loss a trader takes should be controlled and manageable by having a predefined plan before the trade entry.  Always place your stop loss orders at a level that the market should not go to if you are correct about market direction.
 
The only thing the trader needs to focus on after entering a trade is any changes in the [[Sentiment_Analysis | sentiment]] of the market environment.  As new information presents itself you should adjust your bias accordingly.  Nothing else should get in the way of your thinking not even what the profit or loss blotter says.  All emotion should be removed from [[trading]] so that you can remain as focused as you were before you entered the trade.  Don’t let what your profit and loss says twist your thinking.  Focusing your attention on profit and losses will take away your focus from what’s happening in the market and can lead you down a slippery road to ruin.
 
You will need to learn how to gain the confidence to follow your well thought out trading plan through discipline and results tracking.  After all, the only reason a trader would change the plan in the middle of a trade is that he doubts his plan (or simply doesn’t have one) and lacks the discipline to follow it.  However, if the trader had seen results from the trading plan then he would have had more confidence to stick to the plan.
 
 
===Dollar Counting===
 
Don’t count the money until you ring the cash register and book your trade.  It should not matter how much profit you see while in the trade, the only thing that should matter is what is happening to the market environment in real-time. 
 
If you find yourself staring at the profit and loss blotter instead of monitoring the news flows it might be a good idea for you to minimize or hide the blotter. If you find yourself peeking at it then close it all together and focus your attention on the [[Price_Action_Analysis | price action]] and [[Sentiment_Analysis | sentiment]].
 
If you focus your attention on how much money is being made or lost on your screen and thinking about it in terms of rent or car payment you are going to have a hard time focusing on more important things such as managing your position in accordance with your trading plan.  You should never be [[trading]] with scared money that you can’t afford to lose.  This puts a lot of pressure on the trader to perform and if you are a new trader it’s unreasonable for you to think that you can come to [[trading]] and instantly start generating a great income from day one. 
 
Counting your money and mentally spending it on whatever you’re thinking about while in the trade will cause you to make irrational trading decisions that are based on things other than what is genuinely important such as [[Price_Action_Analysis | price action]], real-time news flow and [[Sentiment_Analysis | sentiment]].
 
 
===Reasons you May be Thinking about the Money While in a Trade===
 
[[Trading]] with ''"scared [[US_dollar | dollars]]"'' is a major reason people think about money while in a trade.  If you are [[trading]] with your rent money then that is probably not a very good or [[Safe_Haven_Flows | safe]] idea.  Your emotions will overrun your rational mind with thoughts of ''"what if"'' or ''"what will I do if I lose this money?"''  Never trade with money you can’t afford to lose because most traders will lose money while they are learning how to trade. 
 
Many traders think about the money because they lack complete [[Conviction_in_your_Trading | conviction]] probably because don't understand their [[Fundamental_and_Sentiment_Trading_Strategies | trading strategies]] or trading plan (or they don’t have a plan).  This is very common and can lead to many other trading problems that are not habits a trader wants to get into if he wishes to become consistently successful.  Without a trading plan, the trader is lost and stacks the odds of success against him.
 
Many traders fall into the trap of not trusting that they will do the right thing that they know they should be doing.  This usually occurs after they have broken their own [[Trading_Rules_to_Live_By | trading rules]] or didn't follow their trading plan so many times that it has become a habit.  Developing this bad behaviour can be a very costly habit.  Examples would be not taking your stop losses because you can’t admit you are wrong or taking your profits way too early out of [[The_Basic_Cycle#Stage_4:_Decline/Fear | fear]] that the market might take back that profit.  If you break your [[Trading_Rules_to_Live_By | rules]] once it becomes easy to continue breaking your [[Trading_Rules_to_Live_By | rules]] so make a plan and stick to it.
 
Some traders get over-excited and trade too large a position for the size of their [[Trader_Scouting_and_Prop_Firms_Overview_and_Comparison | account]].  This really makes them think about the money because they are about to murder their [[Trader_Scouting_and_Prop_Firms_Overview_and_Comparison | account]] on one trade if it goes wrong.  More importantly, [[trading]] too large a position too early in a trading career can be a crippling experience.  It doesn’t make sense to go from a default trading size of 1 micro lot to [[trading]] 10 standard lots on the next trade. The size of trader’s positions should be increased incrementally over time as more experience and profits build up in the [[Trader_Scouting_and_Prop_Firms_Overview_and_Comparison | account]].  Also, the trader should be consistent with how much capital they [[risk]] per trade.  Lot sizing of a position should be based on how much money you are willing to [[risk]] per trade. 1-2% [[risk]] per trade is a good general idea.
 
 
===Overcoming Temptation===
 
Do not place a trade out of [[The_Basic_Cycle#Stage_4:_Decline/Fear | fear]] of missing out on the trade.  Getting a bad case of FOMO ([[The_Basic_Cycle#Stage_4:_Decline/Fear | Fear]] Of Missing Out) can cost you a lot of money.  You will need to gain all the necessary information to make a good trading decision before you place a trade in the markets.  Don’t worry about a missed trade because there will always be another trade right around the corner. 
 
Missed money is always better than losing money and not having the appropriate amount of information before placing a trade is a surefire way to lose money.  Each trader will need to gain control over these types of impulse trades.  They cost you commissions, potential capital losses and create bad habits that are hard to get rid of.


Don’t sell your position out of [[The_Basic_Cycle#Stage_4:_Decline/Fear | fear]] that [[Price_Action_Analysis | prices]] will move against you and you might lose out on one penny of profit.  If you want to take a larger gain you will have to sit in [[Retracements | pullbacks]] against your positions while the market corrects and prepares for its next move.  Concentrate on understanding the forces of [[Supply_and_Demand | supply and demand]] taking place in the market in real-time.  Always have at least two scenarios of what might happen while you are in the trade, no matter how bullish or bearish you might be.  This will keep you open to possibilities of profit or loss in any position.  Remember that anything can and will happen in these volatile markets that we find ourselves in today.


There are no guarantees in the markets or in [[trading]].  It would be a benefit to any trader to consider other possibilities other than what the [[Trading_Tools#Charting_Software | chart]] suggests.  Patterns fail all the time and you need to be prepared when they do fail to save your capital and potentially profit from the failed pattern itself.  This is why monitoring real-time news feeds are so essential to stay in tune with the [[Sentiment_Analysis | market sentiment]].
[[The Psychology of Money Management | CLICK HERE]] to access the [[The Psychology of Money Management]] Wiki.





Latest revision as of 18:29, 18 October 2023

When someone says the term "Trading Psychology" they are referring to the emotions and mental state of a trader that may dictate the success or failure when trading any financial market. This trading psychology is unique to the individual trader. However, in general, it represents various aspects of an individual’s character and behaviours that influence their trading decisions and consequently, the actions they will take in the markets.

Trading psychology can be as important, if not more important, than other attributes such as Fundamental Analysis, Technical Analysis, Price Action Analysis and Sentiment Analysis and trading knowledge, experience, and other general skills that are important in determining if a trader will be successful in the markets.

Discipline and risk-taking are two very important aspects of trading psychology since how well a trader will implement them are essential to the success of their trading plan and ultimately if they can make a profit or not. Fear and greed are commonly associated with poor trading psychology. Hope and regret can also be a part of negative trading behaviour.

In the following Wiki, we will explore many aspects of Trading Psychology as well as strategies to help cope with negative trading behaviour. This is a large Wiki so take your time in the table of contents and pick what seems right for your situation.


This Wiki is a part of our Essential Forex Trading Guide. Be sure to check that out HERE.



Introduction to Trading Psychology

You may have heard that the failure rate for new traders is extremely high. However, this is especially true in the case of retail traders. But why is the case? The answer lies in the focus of what retail traders tend to focus their learning on. Let's use two traders as an example:

The first trader is a complete newbie who has decided to trade from home utilizing the information from a bunch of different courses he found on the internet for his training. It’s highly unlikely that this trader will ever get exposed to enough training on the topic of psychology. He/She may hear some famous clichés or even read a book or two but generally, the focus on psychology will be very low when compared to the other elements of successful trading. In fact, he will probably only be exposed to Technical Analysis alone for his training because that is what most training packages on the internet chose to focus on.

Therefore most retail traders will focus the vast majority of their training on Technical Analysis. Technical Analysis is the choice of almost all retail traders to use with their trading efforts. The reason for this is that Technical Analysis is sexy, very visual, simple, and interesting. It's also very black and white because if this pattern occurs you do this, if the indicator says this then you do that. Unfortunately, it’s also fairly useless without the other elements of professional trading such as Fundamental Analysis, Price Action Analysis and Sentiment Analysis, Trading Psychology and Risk Management.

Choosing to focus on Technical Analysis alone is the most common mistake that retail traders make. However, it’s not necessarily the retail traders' fault. 99% of all the training programs on the internet are all based on Technical Analysis. So how is it possible for them to get all the info they need to succeed when it’s virtually impossible to find it all in one place? There are some courses that will teach some risk management skills and others that will talk about having proper trading psychology but this will likely be a small component of the training.

On the other hand, if we look at a trader who has just completed and graduated an institutional level training, they too will have received much education and training. They will also learn about Technical Analysis but the biggest thing we want to point out here is that the institutional trader will have extensive exposure to training and development on their trading psychology. This will not just be a course; rather, keeping a healthy trading psychology will be an ongoing process over their entire trading career. There are plenty of trading firms that pay big bucks for in-house trading psychologists. The reason they would do this is because the traders are the firm's money makers and making sure these traders are making sound trading decisions and not allowing outside influences to affect their trading is a major priority. Paying a good trading psychologist a couple of hundred grand per year can save the firm millions so it's a no-brainer for the firm.


The Importance of Trading Psychology and why you can’t Stay in the Game without it?

Let’s now look at an illustration that will help you not only understand the importance but also why so many people tend to overlook having a proper trading psychology.

The Right Way to Aquire Skills:

Let’s imagine that you are starting to learn how to play the sport of golf. What are the first things that you need? The latest and greatest set of golf clubs, a membership to a prestigious golf club, or maybe some really expensive golf shoes so you look good on the course? No! It’s obvious that anyone needs some proper training before getting any of that other fancy stuff.

So the question is; what is training? Well, training in this example is simply working with an experienced golfer who can show you all of the mistakes that golfers make so that you don’t make them. They will also show you what you need to do correctly in order for you to be successful. You will learn things such as how to have the correct golfing stance and a good swing.

The next thing you need is practice, and lots of it. Your training should be ongoing, maybe a couple of times a week, but in between, you will be trying to get as much practice as possible. After all, there is that old saying that "practice makes perfect". This is true of pretty much anything you attempt to do in your life. The saying may not be 100% accurate because most people will never become perfect no matter how much practice they get but they certainly will never be any good at golf without any practice. Following this routine with great dedication will lead to success over a sustained period of time because those are the things you need to do that will make yourself good at golf.

Eventually, you will get to a level in golf where you won’t have to constantly be thinking about your swing or stance because all of your practice and training instilled those habits in you that you need to be good at golf. Being able to play golf naturally without thinking will be your main edge over your competition. Professional sports players refer to this process as "getting into the zone".

There was once a famous American football coach who said that "in times of adversity you sink to the level of your training". Well, if your training is not very good then when you get stressed out or are in a tough position you will likely golf poorly. On the other hand, if your training is extensive then when you come under pressure you will perform well. This is as true in trading as it is in golf or anything else that requires training and practice to be successful.

After you have mastered your edge the next thing to do is increase and refine your edge using the smaller things such as the latest set of clubs or better shoes that we spoke of earlier. However, no matter what clubs or shoes you use your core skills will always be there and you will perform better than other people who do not have their core skillset properly developed. You are way ahead of your competition if you practice the correct things over and over.

The Wrong Way to Approach Acquiring Skills:

Now imagine that instead of going down the path of working with a professional golfer and practicing until you are highly skilled you instead went down the first example and joined the best club and bought the most expensive shoes in the hope of improving your performance. This surely sounds ridiculous now that we have pointed it out in this way but this is exactly what most retail traders do when they focus all of their education on the “system” they are using, Technical Analysis, the broker they are trading with, or even information they purchase and use for their trade analysis.

One of the true keys to trading does not lie externally with any system but rather the key lies firmly inside your mind. The way that you develop your trading skills are exactly the same way as you do in the sport of golf. You start by focusing on the skill and the actual process of trading. Then, at some point in your learning, the importance of these items drop dramatically and the most important thing will then become your inner game.

The mistake that most new traders make, and this is particularly true of retail traders, is that they focus all their efforts on the skills of technical trading. They continue to do so thinking that they need more and more skills to improve when in reality the basic skills of trading are actually quite simple. There are more skills needed than just Technical Analysis. Traders should also become skilled in Fundamental Analysis, Sentiment Analysis, Price Action Analysis, Risk Management, and Trading psychology.

Once you have all these concepts firmly cemented in your mind it's simply practicing and working on your inner game that will improve your results the most. The true key to successful trading is being able to get into the zone and trade in your natural state without thinking too much about what you are doing. Professional trading coaches call this "emotional state mastery".


Emotional States

It’s important to understand that some states are perfect for being able to perform at your peak potential while other states do the exact opposite. This means that some states will actually stop you from performing at your highest ability. It goes without saying that when you are trading you want to be in the best and most positive states that will help you achieve your goal of performing at your peak potential. We all ultimately want to end up making money, and being in a positive state to achieve this is absolutely vital to your success in the financial markets.

A way for you to gain some good insights into how to perform under pressure is to use the example of military Special Forces. These highly trained soldiers have a combination of endurance, navigational skills, determination, persistence, problem-solving, decision-making strategies, and emotional state mastery.

In the Special Forces, it is recognized that they need highly skilled soldiers and a good mission strategy. However, what is considered to be most important is being in the right state of mind to deliver effective results. Even the best soldier will be less effective if they are not in a fit mental state to perform. Therefore, creating the right state for those soldiers is really important for successful combat operations. The same applies to trading.

You could have taken all the best courses, know all of the correct theories, and have all the best strategies up your sleeve but if you are not in the right emotional state you will find that failure in the markets is just the beginning of your problems. The fact is that your psychological state is the most important thing of all because without it you will not be able to use any of the skills you have worked so hard to develop. In trading, it is common to see really smart people do incredibly dumb things because of some emotional challenge. We are all guilty of doing things that we know we shouldn’t.

Just like a soldier, we need to have three main components of a positive state, excellent strategy, and great skills to be well-rounded as traders. All three are required but the one that will control your final outcome is your state. The importance of state cannot be understated.

When you sit at your trading desk you will need to have a strategy to make money. You will be utilizing your skills such as market analysis, identifying trade opportunities, and filtering out bad information. However, everything else aside, what truly controls and influences your overall performance is the state you are in while you are trading. Let's explore more of this now.


What is State?

States are the effects and the consequences of whatever is happening in your mind at any specific time.

States are dynamic processes. What this means is that your state will change regularly throughout the trading day, and can fluctuate minute by minute. For traders, it sometimes feels like our states can change almost every second because we are dealing with real money and money can often be the main driver of emotional states. States are emotions like confidence, anger, motivation, anxiety and so on. All of these things are dynamic processes or feelings.

Your personal performance in everything from trading to relationships to sports and so on is for the most part influenced by your feelings. How you feel will affect how you will perform in the moment. These feelings don’t just happen to you. They are actually choices that we choose to make on a second-by-second basis.

Professional sports stars have learned how to choose which state they want to perform in order to succeed and we can look to draw some parallels for us to perform in our peak state as traders. These highly paid athletes will go over the entire game or race in their heads long before they ever set foot in competition. They do this so that they will be prepared for any situation that is thrown at them because they already have an action plan for how they will react to get the best possible outcome.

A lot of what state is all about is the fact that thoughts are things and the more positive or negative things you hold in your mind the more positivity or negativity you will feel. Now, this may sound a little out there but it is true that the more you focus on something, whether positive or negative, the more you make that real in your mind. This is because your mind cannot distinguish the difference between something that happens in real life or something that has been vividly imagined. So if thoughts are things then we can choose to focus on the things that will put us in the best state for trading.


Potential and Performance

To understand this concept of state a little better we are going to look at two words, potential and performance:

How often do you perform to your peak potential? The ultimate goal for us traders is being able to reach the point where we can consistently perform to our maximum potential.

To quantify performing to your maximum potential we can use a famous equation that helps us explain this process of performing to our potential:

At any specific time, we are performing to our potential minus any interference.

What a powerful sentence that is: at any specific time, we are performing to our potential minus any interference. Obviously, in the ideal scenario, there is no interference and this is the state that many authors talk about. When it comes to the subject of performance these authors have coined this state as the state of zone or flow. You might recall a famous trading book on psychology called Trading in the Zone by the late Mark Douglas. This is definitely a book worth checking out.

A prominent US psychologist and expert on performance and flow found from his extensive research that there are eight key factors evident when someone is in the zone:

  1. A challenging task at which you may succeed. This is matching a challenge to your capability.
  2. A merging of action and awareness. This means you are in time, tuned in, and losing track of time.
  3. Your task has very clear goals.
  4. Your task provides immediate feedback.
  5. You have total concentration on the task at hand.
  6. You have a distinct feeling of control over your actions.
  7. You have a complete loss of self-consciousness.
  8. The transformation of time from slow to fast.

How true these points really are. Have you ever started reading a great book and then realized 3 hours had passed? What about times when you were enjoying playing a sport or game so much that you completely lost track of time? This can happen in trading as well.

From this research and other studies we can breakdown the process of getting into the zone into three key elements:

  1. Matching the challenge to your capabilities.
  2. Ensuring that you have clear goals.
  3. Focusing on the task at hand which in turn will give you a feeling of control over your actions.

The other point we looked at in an illustration earlier is the importance of practice. Remember, in order to become truly skilled at golf, or anything for that matter, it’s not only training we need but also a lot of practice. From a psychological perspective, the reason this is so powerful is because being in the zone is automatic and performance tends to transcend consciousness. In order to achieve this automatic performance you need to have a high level of skill. In order to get that high level of skill you need to have a lot of practice doing something consistently successful over a sustained period of time.

To summarize this point, in order to trade in the zone we need to have a high level of skill and in order to get that high level of skill we need to practice.

To illustrate this further we can look at the 4 stage learning model of competence. In this model, there are 4 stages to becoming extremely skilled at any task or process and this is called the 4 stages of competence.


The 4 Stages of Competence

Most traders desperately want to become profitable instantly and not have put in any of the work that is required to become a consistently profitable trader. We understand why this is. The human brain is designed in a way that it will do almost anything to avoid any kind of short-term pain. This is a self-defence mechanism that has been ingrained in our unconscious minds since the beginning of thought itself.

This reality is unfortunate because science tells us that it’s the process that you go through, the challenges that you face, and how you react to those challenges that will determine how successful you become as a trader or anything else in life for that matter.

It has been proven with a high degree of certainty that in any endeavour in which you as a human embark you will go through 4 stages of competence. You will only gain this high level of mental development if you see this skill through to proficiency which takes a lot of practice. The 4 stages are:

You can read more on the dedicated Wiki page for The 4 Stages of Competence HERE.


What Exactly do you Need to Practice with Trading Psychology

We have just touched on the importance of your state when trading. Being in the correct state is far more important than your skills, system, or the broker that you use.

There is a fairly famous author in the trading world named Mark Douglas. He specializes in trading psychology and has authored some of the best-selling trading books of all time such as 'Trading in the Zone'.

Let’s now look at some of the more interesting findings in a little more detail and see how we can apply these findings to our trading.

In one of his books, Mark Douglas talks about the fact that when trading in the zone you operate with a complete lack of fear because fear is mostly retrospective based on what has happened in the past. Fearcan also be predictive based on some future event that has not actually happened yet. This means that we are creating fears with our thoughts that are not our true reality or experience.

Think of a time when you had a fear that was never realized. Maybe you have experienced fear prior to giving a presentation that someone would laugh at you. This caused you real anxiety before the presentation but it likely never happened. Your mind created that fear but it never actually happened in real life. It’s very rare that fear is in the here and now other than in extreme events that catch us off guard.

Another thought from the book is that entering this zone is achieved much more easily when certain beliefs are in place. These beliefs are as follows:

  1. Your edge is strong and you have an unshakeable belief in an outcome with an edge in your favour.
  2. You truly and deeply accept the loss.
  3. You know that once you are in a trade anything can happen and anything is possible but you remain neutral and flexible in your approach.
  4. You expect positive results for your efforts with an acceptance that whatever results you are getting are a perfect reflection of your level of development as a trader. Your results are also a reflection of what you still need to learn.

Aside from these beliefs for getting into the zone, there are also some barriers to getting into that state.

Trading psychologists suggest that the majority of trading setbacks are a result of performance anxiety. Performance anxiety is things such as anxiety, stress, fear, anger, and frustration. These are all states that most traders feel but at the same time, they are also states that work against them from achieving peak performance.

  • Anger causes our perception to change.
  • Frustration causes us to feel like no other positive possibilities exist.
  • Fear stops us from seeing any opportunity at all.
  • Anxiety either causes us to freeze up or to run.
  • Stress narrows our attention and eliminates our focus.

These negative states cause the interference that we mentioned earlier and stop us from performing to our potential. Remember, at any specific time we are performing to our potential minus any interference.

Mark Douglas goes on to state that there are 4 main trading fears:

  1. Fear of being wrong.
  2. Fear of losing money.
  3. Fear of missing out.
  4. Fear of leaving money on the table.

These 4 fears can be broken into the 5 core obstacles that stop us from getting into the zone:

  1. Fear of being wrong: In order to combat this we must accept that losses are and always will be a part of trading, there is just nothing that can be done to change this fact. We also need to recognize that it’s not losing that really hurts our feelings. It's trading badly that causes our issues.
  2. Fear of losing money: To overcome this you need to realize that no matter how great a trader you are, you will always miss opportunities. You don't need to get in on every single opportunity to be profitable. It’s all about consistency over the long run. If you miss a great trade then this gives you an opportunity to study the outcome. You simply move on and look for the next trade.
  3. Focus on profit and loss rather than the trade: To stop this you need to start measuring your success on how well you traded and not how much money you made or lost. Successful trading is all about the correct process of trading. Remain present and in the moment, be task-focused, and control all that you can control.
  4. Losing objectivity: Challenge this by constantly asking yourself, “If I was not in this trade right now what would I do, buy, sell, or do nothing?” You need to be able to view your trade as if you were a third-party observer. If you determine there is no good reason to get out of a trade other than you are fearful of a profit evaporating then you need this third-party perspective to help you gain control over your emotions.
  5. Taking inappropriate risk: Combat this by thinking in probabilities while considering the risks and rewards involved. What are the odds of this trade working? How much can you make or lose? You need to trade a position size that matches your capabilities and also your account size and allow yourself to trade to your potential. You must not trade like the current trade you are in is your last trade because it might very well be if you have taken on enough risk. In other words, you really need to remove your ego from your trading.

These 5 areas are the main barriers to entering the zone but there are also some lesser things that get in our way if we let them:

  1. Lack of preparation.
  2. Lack of practice.
  3. Lack of discipline.
  4. High levels of stress.
  5. External distractions such as life away from trading.

As you can see, a lot of this inner game is about creating the correct beliefs. Now we come back to the beginning of this section by mentioning how absolutely imperative it is to operate in the correct state. This is a state that allows us to operate under those proper beliefs and ultimately trade in the zone of psychological success. This is essential to making it as a professional trader for the long haul.


How to Create the Optimal State for Peak Trading Performance

In this Wiki, We are going to highlight 14 different strategies that you can implement to achieve your optimal state for peak trading performance. They are:

  1. Energy Management
  2. Breathing Techniques
  3. The Process of Trading and Controlling the Controllables
  4. Managing the Voice Inside Our Heads
  5. Identifying your Ideal Trading State and How to access it
  6. Tapping into Your Awareness
  7. Creating a Peak Performance Trigger
  8. Asking Yourself Resourceful Questions
  9. How Winners Handle Losing
  10. Regaining Focus
  11. Managing Risks
  12. Physiology
  13. Beliefs, Attitudes and Perceptions
  14. The Power of Mental Rehearsal


This is a comprehensive Wiki that is sure to help you find a technique to support you and your trading for peak performance. You can access the main Wiki for How to Create the Optimal State for Peak Trading Performance HERE.


Introduction to Trading Psychology Summary

Let’s now remind ourselves what we have covered up to this point so that you can formulate a clear plan and manage your trading psychology in a way that gets you in the zone to help create the emotional states that will lead you to success.

First of all, we looked at how all of our emotional states are dynamic processes that change constantly throughout the day.

Next, we discovered how emotional states are what drive our feelings and ultimately how we perform. Some of these states are good for peak performance and others actually work against us.

Energy management is just as important as psychological elements. You need to use the information and exercises here to actively identify your personal ideal state for trading. You then need to learn how to create that ideal state which will enable you to get into that state quickly and easily when you need it.

Being aware of your state is equally important, particularly so that you are instantly aware of when you are in the wrong state for trading. We then learned how we can create triggers and anchors to access peak performance on que.

We learned about negative states that affect us while we are trading which include:

  • Fear
  • Anxiety
  • Stress
  • Anger
  • Frustration.


These negative states affect our perception which affects our ability to spot an opportunity, our overall thought process, and narrows our attention. Every single state, good or bad, is influenced by our own beliefs, perceptions, and attitudes.

Managing your states can be both proactive and reactive. Performing to your potential is directly influenced by how many interferences you experience. Remember that at any one moment you are performing at your potential minus any interference. Getting into the zone is the perfect state that you want to get into for trading.

Several things can influence you from getting into the zone which includes:

  • Your level of skill
  • Your ability
  • How much enjoyment you get out of the task
  • Control over performance
  • The feedback available
  • The beliefs that you have.


Training and practice of the correct methods is the first starting point, followed by working on your inner game using the techniques outlined in this section.

Interestingly, thinking about getting into the zone will actually stop you from getting there because “trying too hard” moves you away from the natural state of the zone. It all has to be unconscious and natural which takes time and practice to achieve.

Positive states such as concentration are created by things such as physiology, thoughts, self-talk, and what you choose to focus on. Changing any of these things, positively or negatively, will directly affect the state that you are in.

The key techniques for creating and sustaining positive states are as follows:

  • Positive physiology.
  • Utilizing sound energy management techniques.
  • Centering techniques.
  • Focus on the task and the process in the present tense on a trade-by-trade basis.
  • Your thoughts, keep these minimal by using simple performance cues rather than overthinking things too much.


Interferences are one of your biggest enemies when trying to perform to your potential.

There are two types of interference that you need to avoid:

  1. External Interference: Items such as cell phones, instant messaging programs, social media, email, people, and software games.
  2. Internal Interference: Items such as negative self-talk, hunger, dehydration, and tiredness.


We then looked at how winners handle losses and the fact that they fully accept losses as part of the nature of trading. Winners keep their perspective of the bigger picture in mind, gain feedback from every trade they take, and review their trades from a third-party perspective. They also put losing trades behind them and move on using the ARIA method. They also separate losing trades from them being losers themselves.

Finally, once you have mastered these other items you will need to have the ability to re-focus from time to time. You know how to get into the zone but when you lose that focus you will need to have a strategy to get back in the zone. To do this we gauge our awareness on a scale of 1 to 10. We then use the performance cues and take regular time outs when needed.

Before we complete this section we are going to leave you with some suggested follow-up tasks that you can take away and practice in your own time.

First of all, remain aware of your own state, check it on a 1 to 10 scale, and identify what states are perfect for you to personally perform to your potential. Practice and explore your own strategies for managing your emotional state, especially in terms of your ideal trading state.

Finally, add some of these strategies into your daily routine so that you can begin automating the entire process of entering the zone. It doesn’t have to be all of the strategies, just something that gets you into a rhythm.

As was mentioned at the beginning of this section, trading psychology is a huge subject and something that will make up a large part of your trading. This section has hopefully given you a good grounding in the overall principles so that you are ready for upcoming sections.


Advanced Trading Psychology

Welcome to this section on advanced your trading psychology. Trading psychology is one of the most important elements of your overall trading process once you have acquired the correct training, experience, and skills.

The initial stages of trading are learning the correct skills in the first place because incorrect learning is like trying to play golf using a hockey stick. No matter how hard you practice you will never be a good golfer.

The first stage is to study all about what drives the markets and how you can plan and execute your trades using the same skillset that institutional traders use. This is the equivalent of learning the correct swing and stance and what clubs and balls you should be using as a starting point for learning the sport of golf.

After this, from that moment on your development is all about 2 things:

  1. Practice.
  2. Your psychological approach to performing.


What we will do in this section is take you through all the major psychological concepts that will be key to trading successfully so that you can begin setting up these processes into your routine until eventually, they become your natural trading habits.

A trained trader who is performing badly does not necessarily need to learn new skills or find a better strategy; they simply need to hone their psychology to improve their overall performance.

Once a trader has practiced the correct skills and developed them to a point where they can compete then their number one priority is to ensure that they are trading in the zone whenever they are in the markets. Getting into the zone is the absolute key to trading successfully. This is also the reason that banks, institutional trading firms, and funds spend thousands of dollars coaching their traders in this manner.


Conviction in your Trading

Conviction goes beyond just thinking that you might have a good trade plan. True conviction in your trading comes from practice and experience of being successful over a sustained period of time with your edge.

For new traders, conviction doesn’t happen overnight. If you want to be successful as a trader then you will need to understand and accept that making money will only come when you have gained enough experience following your edge over a long enough period of time.

In the following Wiki Conviction in your Trading we will explore:


CLICK HERE to access the Wiki on Conviction in your Trading.


Trader Psychology Problems

Whether you win or lose in trading, at least 80% of the final results you get are the result of your psychology. trading is a huge undertaking and the reason most people fail is because of poor trading psychology. They simply approach the markets or have beliefs about what is possible in the markets that are completely false.

The real reason that traders have poor psychology is mainly that they lack complete conviction in their trading methods. Conviction is directly related to how confident you are while in a position. Knowing the reasons why you are in a trade is vital to staying calm if the market moves against you.

One of the main aims of trading is for the trader to gain complete conviction in his trading so that he will never suffer from any psychological ailment with his trading. In trading it is never the psychology that is the problem, it is the conviction. Conviction, or lack of conviction, is the root of all good or bad trading psychology.

In the following Wiki we will explore:


CLICK HERE to access the Trader Psychology Problems Wiki.


Solutions for Trading Psychology Problems

Following on from Trader Psychology Problems, we will now take a look at some solutions including:


CLICK HERE to access the Solutions for Trading Psychology Problems Wiki.


3 Keys to Mastering your Trading Psychology

Psychology has a lot more to do with success in the markets than most traders will give credit. Proper trading psychology can be broken down into 3 key areas in which traders may focus their efforts on improvement. These 3 Key of success is what we will focus on in the following Wiki:

  1. Focus on One Method
  2. Have a Trading Plan
  3. Build a Winning Psychology


CLICK HERE to access the 3 Keys to Mastering your Trading Psychology Wiki.


General Trading Psychology

In the following Wiki on General Trading Psychology we will explore:


CLICK HERE to access the General Trading Psychology Wiki.


The Psychology of Money Management

In the following Wiki on The Psychology of Money Management we will explore:


CLICK HERE to access the The Psychology of Money Management Wiki.


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