Want A New Career? Make Your Trading Last

Who wouldn’t want a career that sustained a comfortable lifestyle – sometimes more than comfortable – and yet didn’t mean that you had to out every morning to the same boring job to work the same eight hours to make the same hellish commute back home again? Can anyone really enjoy doing that? Sure, we make the money to pay for the nice house and car, but we barely ever have the time to use them. We’re always working. But if you can make your trading last, you’ll have a full time salary on part time hours, and you’ll get the most out of every day.

Sounds pretty good.

Are You Sure?

Sure we’re sure. That’s the point of trading. Once you’ve got your excellent and workable strategy in place – the ‘hard part’ – you can basically just set it and forget it when it comes to the trades themselves. As long as you have the right mind-set. And that could mean changing long-held beliefs about what trading means and how you go about it. But that’s okay. That’s more than okay. If those beliefs aren’t quite right, they need to be changed – and so does your life.

Changing The Way You Think

So if you want to make your trading last, you need to have a fresh approach to it. This is not just a hobby anymore – this is your career, and as such you need to take it seriously. You also need to remember that losing is part of the game. You simply cannot win 100% of the time, it’s just not possible. Even what you might think of as a ‘winning streak’ is going to end due to the balance of probabilities. That’s just how these things work. Going into trading with your eyes open is essential. Never trade with more than you can afford to lose.

Remember, when we say, for example, there is a 70% winning percentage, do you know what that means? Really understand it? You need to. It doesn’t mean that one particular trade has a 70% chance of winning. It means that, altogether, you will win 70% of the time. Which leaves 30% as a loss.

This is why it is essential that you shouldn’t put any emotion into a trade. Don’t get excited about it (although we’ll allow a little smile if it wins. If) because this will cloud your judgement. If it looks pretty good and you could make a ton on it but it doesn’t quite match your strategy, leave it alone. Even if it’s within touching distance of your plan. Unless it matches directly, don’t force it. You’ll only regret it.

Avoid The Emotion

As we’ve mentioned above, avoiding any emotion when it comes to a trade is how to make your trading last. Put emotion into it and it becomes something more than it is, and losing becomes more than it is. Losing suddenly gets you right in the heart, and trading isn’t fun anymore. You’ll want to stop. And you’ll never reach your true potential. Well, here’s the secret – trading isn’t meant to be fun. It’s not about fun. You want to spend your money in a fun way that has a chance of you never seeing it again (a big chance, as it happens)? Try online slots. Trading is for those who are serious about what they’re doing and have worked hard to get their strategy just right.

One trade, win or lose, shouldn’t be allowed to affect you.

Cut Out The Mistakes

If only it were that easy, right? Just say to yourself you’re not going to be making any more mistakes and bam! No more mistakes are made… Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. But it is something to focus on if you want to make your trading last. The best way to stop making mistakes is to stick to the plan. We’ve said it a number of times now; stay with your strategy and never waver. And we’ve said it a number of times for one reason only; it works. If you lose – which you will – don’t suddenly start putting money you can’t afford to lose onto any old trade in an effort to recoup your losses. That’s a big error. Go into a trade with the knowledge that, win or lose, you will simply keep calm and carry on, and things will go a lot more smoothly for you.

Rob Colville aka The Lazy Trader

Click here