Emotion in the Trading Environment
All new traders are emotional when it comes to trading – it's a new experience and can bring up all different emotions.
If you find yourself either depressed or jumping around the room after a trade then you have an issue with your discipline.
Your aim with trading is to make it as emotionally neutral as possible, so that it becomes routine – taking this approach will allow you to smooth out the emotional peaks & troughs.
Everyone comes to the markets with great expectations on what they are going to do in the market, but few are willing to do the work. The truth is Trading as a Profitable, MONEY MAKING venture is not a Great Adventure – it's work, but that work is what allows you to have great adventures away from your trading desk.
The Rewards of Discipline
For those who are willing to do what it takes and be disciplined in their approach, the rewards are endless.
Most people view discipline as “sticking to the rules” or “following a plan to the letter”; but what makes a successful trader is someone who is willing to go into their own psyche and do what it takes to sort themselves out.
What sorts the “men from the boys” (or women from the girls) is the personal discipline to take actions that aren't necessarily comfortable because that's just what needs to be done to achieve your intended outcomes.
Mediocrity – The Opposite of Success
The path MOST taken is one of settling for average results and eventually an average or uninspired life…
My good friend and business partner Ron Bentley calls this being “comfortably uncomfortable” – it's the limiting belief that it is some sort of sign of strength to show how much discomfort you can endure, instead of living a life of inspiration and action that can be the most fulfilling and powerful life one can lead.
Navigating the Path to Success
The path to success is a road that has a lot of distractions, early exits and quite often a few large speed bumps and hills.
The disciplined entrepreneur is the person who looks at their own thoughts as these obstacles approach and sees where they could be taken off the path, but they choose to stay on track because they know what awaits them at the end of the road – the life they dreamed for themselves and their families.
Now, constantly monitoring your emotions and tendencies to take the easy path takes discipline because sometimes (actually quite often) you will have to face something that you have been avoiding for a lifetime.
The fears that have been so much a part of you that they appear to be “normal” ways of being.
Success really does go to the people who challenge their mental discipline and go the distance.
Going the Distance
The journey to Success isn't (in most cases) a sprint, but an endurance event, but at the finish line there is more than just a nice ribbon or a shiny trinket.
The rewards of success in Forex trading are the time, money and choice to do what you want for the rest of your life.
On your marks, get set… GO!
Lance Freeman
