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It’s all in the mind you know!

There’s a big difference between getting lucky on one particular trade to being a successful trader. Success is built up over a period of time and not in a fortunate moment. The successful trader is a man or woman with his or her mind in the right place.  People need a method and a plan and they need to stick to that plan and not to deviate when things seem to be going wrong. You may find a struggle taking place within you between the emotional being and the rational being! 

Demo accounts aren’t just for beginners

It’s a common (and good) piece of advice to recommend to newcomers to Forex trading that they have a good practice on a demo account before they go live and start risking their money.  It’s a time when they will take care to get things right and establish a calm mental approach which will seek to work by the book.  But when someone is no longer a novice but finds himself making mistake after mistake – and losing by it – try a session on a demo account and use the opportunity to sort yourself out.

Keep your emotions out of business

If you want to cheer save it for the ball game; if you want to cry, go and see a weepie movie. Never never get too attached to one particular trade, being absolutely sure that “this one is a winner”.   One trade on its own does not matter that much – what counts is an overall series of trades which is the only way to sensibly judge your performance.

Think in probabilities

This mantra is very similar to the previous in that it stresses the importance of not being over attached to one particular trade but to a sequence. In that sequence there will inevitably be a random selection of winning trades and losing trades. The sensible trader does not bet the house on one trade but looks for the probabilities over a series.  You have to think what the eventuality will be only after you have been through a series of trades.

Think market stalls from your laptop

Does this sound crazy? Let me explain, in the “good old days” when you were trading, you came face to face with the people you were trading with.  You could read the expressions on their faces, perhaps you dealt with them on a day to day basis; you might share a coffee or an after-work drink.  Now that has all disappeared and the average Forex trader sits in solitary isolation tapping away at his laptop.    Now consider what happens when you are doing a trade – to do business you need someone to buy and it’s much harder to predict what will happen and what value you should put on a trade when you don’t know who is out there.

Forget about right and wrong

If a trade goes against you, it doesn’t mean that you were wrong, just that the majority opinion went against you.   Just don’t take it to heart!

Andy McGowan
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