on a more personal note, but no less important... you must be very, very, very honest with yourself, even self aware, to a degree in this industry that simply cannot be compared to any other industry I know of.
in nearly every other walk of life, a person can have some dysfunction, or insecurities, or fears...etc... and can usually mask them or rationalize them or otherwise get along fine without actually acknowledging or addressing these shortcomings.
A professional retail trader simply does not have that luxury.
i'm not saying traders are fully functional, fearless, folks without shortcomings... wow. that would be... eh, no words to even describe that level of arrogance.
what I am saying is that if a fear or bias or dysfunction or attitude that you have is one that CAN manifest itself in your career... it WILL do so in this one.
and the only way around it, is to at very least see it for what it is, and accept it.
Then, one must either build around it, or work it out, or have a specific plan to avoid it.
otherwise... your just gonna suck at trading.
you at LEAST need to do this with yourself...however, most successfull traders I know do it with at least one other person as well.
kinda like a 12 step program. if your going to make it work, you must first see it for what it is...and it's much more successful if you can do this with a "sponsor". thats why 12 steps have sponsers, and thats why traders have mentors or a supportive outlet of some sort (even like this forum)
wanna see what real self honesty looks like? ehhh...was afraid you might. but in the interest of supporting traders to not suck, here is my other thread on this website, and a good example of my own personal struggles, victories, failures, setbacks, breakthroughs, etc.
http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=364409#49
I'll say this. sometimes, posting in my trading journal thread is difficult for me. i mean, having ones failures on public display, and then having to explain them, and admit to them, and feeling how others may view that... it's uncomfortable, to say the least. and I am a person who wants a degree of privacy, and anonymity. I've never been the "life of the party" type... i prefer to not interact with the neighbors, or go to social events, etc.
but, i'm willing to do this type of very public, very personal expose' because I deeply want to become a better trader myself.
Just because one can make a decent income, doesn't mean that they are necessarily anywhere close to acheiving their trading dreams.
by no means does everyone need to make such a public display of their trading journey.
but, I believe that everyone needs to be very honest with themselves, and learn more about themselves, and increase their level of self awareness with regards to emtional states, motivations for certain behaviors they have in their trading, as well as reasons they repeat mistakes more than once.
if you can't do this, raise your hand, and say "ya, i'm wrong. and whats more, this isn't the first time, and i feel like a fool for still making this mistake, but, there you have it." then your not going to be very able to fix that issue.
and, until you do.... you will continue to suck at trading
in nearly every other walk of life, a person can have some dysfunction, or insecurities, or fears...etc... and can usually mask them or rationalize them or otherwise get along fine without actually acknowledging or addressing these shortcomings.
A professional retail trader simply does not have that luxury.
i'm not saying traders are fully functional, fearless, folks without shortcomings... wow. that would be... eh, no words to even describe that level of arrogance.
what I am saying is that if a fear or bias or dysfunction or attitude that you have is one that CAN manifest itself in your career... it WILL do so in this one.
and the only way around it, is to at very least see it for what it is, and accept it.
Then, one must either build around it, or work it out, or have a specific plan to avoid it.
otherwise... your just gonna suck at trading.
you at LEAST need to do this with yourself...however, most successfull traders I know do it with at least one other person as well.
kinda like a 12 step program. if your going to make it work, you must first see it for what it is...and it's much more successful if you can do this with a "sponsor". thats why 12 steps have sponsers, and thats why traders have mentors or a supportive outlet of some sort (even like this forum)
wanna see what real self honesty looks like? ehhh...was afraid you might. but in the interest of supporting traders to not suck, here is my other thread on this website, and a good example of my own personal struggles, victories, failures, setbacks, breakthroughs, etc.
http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=364409#49
I'll say this. sometimes, posting in my trading journal thread is difficult for me. i mean, having ones failures on public display, and then having to explain them, and admit to them, and feeling how others may view that... it's uncomfortable, to say the least. and I am a person who wants a degree of privacy, and anonymity. I've never been the "life of the party" type... i prefer to not interact with the neighbors, or go to social events, etc.
but, i'm willing to do this type of very public, very personal expose' because I deeply want to become a better trader myself.
Just because one can make a decent income, doesn't mean that they are necessarily anywhere close to acheiving their trading dreams.
by no means does everyone need to make such a public display of their trading journey.
but, I believe that everyone needs to be very honest with themselves, and learn more about themselves, and increase their level of self awareness with regards to emtional states, motivations for certain behaviors they have in their trading, as well as reasons they repeat mistakes more than once.
if you can't do this, raise your hand, and say "ya, i'm wrong. and whats more, this isn't the first time, and i feel like a fool for still making this mistake, but, there you have it." then your not going to be very able to fix that issue.
and, until you do.... you will continue to suck at trading