When I mention to folks that I’m a full-time trader, I usually get a few concerned looks.<\/p>\n
That’s because most people that try their hand at trading lose more than they gain. Then, they swear off trading forever.<\/p>\n
But it’s not trading itself that’s the problem. It’s a lack of discipline.<\/p>\n
Let me explain…<\/p>\n
I prefer to think of trading as a vehicle that can take you to financial freedom or financial ruin.<\/p>\n
If you drive the vehicle responsibly, the rewards can be life-changing.<\/p>\n
But if you don’t take trading seriously, the consequences can be devastating…<\/p>\n
You see, over the years I’ve coached and developed around 3,000 traders so far.<\/p>\n
Many of these traders were professionals working with a proprietary trading firm, but plenty were also retail traders investing their own capital.<\/p>\n
I’ve seen both successful retail traders and so-called “professionals” blow up their accounts.<\/p>\n
The differences between good and bad traders have nothing to do with educational background or even what’s on their resume.<\/p>\n
In my 15 years of experience, I’ve learned the most important quality a trader can have is discipline.<\/p>\n
That’s why so many great traders come from military or athletic backgrounds. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to succeed in either arena.<\/p>\n
If you want to be a profitable trader, then discipline is a non-negotiable quality you must develop.<\/p>\n
Apart from discipline, there are three key concepts all traders must know if they want to be successful. <\/p>\n
Today, I’ll go over the first one:<\/p>\n
Successful traders know that good trading is a game of probabilities<\/strong> not <\/em>certainties.<\/strong><\/p>\n Even the best trading strategy in the world won’t be right 100% of the time. <\/p>\n That’s why great traders understand that consistent profits can only be earned by carefully managing risk. <\/p>\n Let’s say you have a strategy that picks winning trades 60% of the time. That’s a great win-rate by any measure.<\/p>\n But even this strategy statistically has a 70% chance of hitting four losing trades in a row. <\/p>\n Meaning, you’ll eventually suffer through a significant losing streak.<\/p>\n You’ll never be able to predict exactly when<\/em> you’re going to hit that streak. It could be after a string of winning trades, or it could be after you’ve just funded your trading account.<\/p>\n Most new traders get too cocky after winning several trades in a row. They take much bigger risks than they should… And wonder how soon it’ll be before they’re raking in the millions.<\/p>\n Then, inevitably, they hit that losing streak. But by that point it’s too late. They’ve almost certainly started to put too much into each trade.<\/p>\n Just like that, they give back all the money they’ve made and then some.<\/p>\n Most of them give up on trading after that.<\/p>\n However, those that stick it out have an opportunity to learn from their mistakes. If not, they’re doomed to repeat this cycle until they’re forced to call it quits.<\/p>\n I went through the same cycle, before I eventually discovered what it takes to break it.<\/p>\n Next week, I’ll share how I finally broke free and earned my way to financial freedom.<\/p>\n Happy trading,<\/p>\n