Trading can be a profitable occupation but it requires you to invest not only money but time as well. You must be ready to learn about the financial instruments, the platform, technical analysis tools. You should develop a good trading plan and do not forget that emotions play a great part in your future success too. In other words, you ought to be committed to your trading.
Contents
Develop a trading commitment
You are committed to trading when you dedicate your time to it. When you have the trading system in hand and you follow it. You are committed when you do not quit when the first difficulties arise. And when you trust and persistently work on the profits. This may sound easy but how to do it? I will discuss some problems you may experience with the trading commitment as well as some hints on how to overcome them.
What problems may occur in your trading commitment development
Laziness
When you think seriously about trading, you cannot allow yourself to be lazy. Naturally, everyone wants to be successful and the faster results come, the better. Many will just fall off along the way. They are too lazy to make deep market analyses. When a strategy does not bring profits, instead of finding the problem and introducing changes, they abandon it and start with another technique. Such an attitude does not bring you closer to success. You must be persistent and invest your time in finding solutions to the problems encountered on the way.
A desire for strong emotions
Some traders reveal another attitude. They expect strong emotions. Naturally, they can find them in trading. The market moves up and down often in an unpredictable way. Jumping in and watching where your position is heading may trigger an adrenaline rush. Although this is, for some, a satisfying feeling, this is not how trading should be done. There has to be a place for meticulous analyses of the market and waiting patiently for a good moment to enter (or exit).
Being afraid of losing
A committed trader can be also characterised by his approach to failures. When the fear is too strong, it may cloud the judgment. Traders who are very afraid of losing their capital often freeze when they see the market is going against them. Instead of taking action they just stop and watch the price going further and further in an unwelcome direction. Of course, it will reverse at some point but it can be too late and they can be forced to sell at the least favourable price. Remember that everyone experience losses occasionally. It is better to cut them short. Include the amount you are ready to lose in your trading plan and use stop losses in your trading.
Lack of a plan
Maybe trading is just your hobby and you think you can simply open a trading platform and enter trades randomly. Sometimes you may even profit from such transactions but in the longer perspective, it will not bring you success. You should treat trading more like a business and always have a plan prepared. A trading journal is an essential tool used by professionals. They keep notes on a daily basis specifying what kind of trades they take, for what amount, when, in what mood, when the transaction ends and with what result. This makes it easy to review past doings and draw conclusions for the future. Having a trading plan helps you to work on your strategy so that it brings better results.
A bunch of advice on how to stay committed
You have learned about some problems you may encounter in your trading journey. Now let's discuss some tricks you can use in an attempt to develop a commitment.
Know your enemy
We are all different and different things may constitute a problem. So the first thing is to know where the problem lies. Maybe you end trades too early or maybe you wait too long to open a position. Maybe you make decisions influenced by strong emotions or maybe you begin the session when tired or hungry. In order to identify the problem make use of the trading diary. If you were keeping it neatly, you will find there a lot of information about your actions. You will be able to see what works well and what does not. Later, you should introduce necessary changes and check how you perform.
Imagine it is not you
Our imagination is powerful. Use it to your advantage. When you are facing a difficult choice, feeling stuck and not sure what to do next, imagine it is not you who is making this decision. You can, for example, think about your best friend, or your mother or some trusted professional. Try to speculate what this person would do in such a situation. Or what will be advice you give to this person? You will see that such a play will change your point of view completely.
Imagine the worst
It is beneficial to look optimistically to the future, however, in case of being excessively afraid of losing, another approach may work. Imagine you lose it all or you experience a losing streak. How would you react? How would you feel? What will happen next? Once you illustrate such a situation in your head, your fear should reduce significantly and your decision should be more adequate.
Conclusion
Trading may be a profitable occupation if only you work on it. Do not expect a fast and easy road. There is no magic and no success guarantees. You have to be aware of the problems that may occur along the way. But there is always a chance that you will overcome them when you make a bit of effort.
Be prepared when you begin a trading session. Develop a trading plan and stay faithful to it. When you see something is not working, introduce changes and test a strategy again. Do not give up too early. Do not allow yourself for being lazy. Commitment takes time. Remember about the power of imagination. Playing different scenarios in your head may help you to make appropriate decisions.
One more thing you can do before you invest your money is to practice in the IQ Option demo account. You can test new strategies there, try new indicators, play with different methods. This account does not cost you anything and you get virtual cash to trade with. Make good use of it.
Enjoy trading!