Knowing what novice traders lack when it comes to trading skills is very helpful, but it can be even more interesting to learn the common qualities of forex traders who are really successful in the market! Let’s analyze what are those qualities that really make a trader successful and differentiate him from others.
Know how to lose
In forex trading, nothing is certain. You win on some trades and lose on others; the important thing is that the final balance is positive. Newbie traders are often profit focused and tend to focus on “how to make a good profit”. With experience, it becomes clear that it is much more efficient to find “lost property”!
The first step is to realize that losses are inevitable, no one can boast that they only make profits, except for a short definite period and again with the help of luck.
Once one has understood that unloading is normal in the context of trading, one must learn to manage with good risk management.
The fundamental basis is to use protection stop (Stop Loss), which are preprogrammed automatic orders that cut your position when the loss is greater than what you had decided to accept as maximum risk at the time of entering the order.
Many beginners are tempted to hope that “things will get better” when a position is losing, while professionals and cash traders accept their losses undeterred and move on to another trade.
Being able to resist the temptation to over-trade
The statistics available are very clear: These are not the most active forex traders making the most money!
Beginners generally want to spend more time trading, hoping to make maximum profits, but ultimately it is much more profitable to wait for the right setup, the right trend, or the right signal.
Sometimes you have to be patient when the market does not necessarily lend itself to trading because this is a situation that happens quite frequently.
Know how to control your emotions
A novice trader is often very subject to his emotions. The heady feeling of early profits, the fear of losing, the nervousness of trades not going as planned.
The professional trader is just the opposite, as he is emotionally detached. He trusts his strategy and, in his opinion, trading is almost an uncorrelated financial impact, either positive or negative.
In this way, one can master their actions, by thinking logically and responsibly, thus avoiding many mistakes.
I remember my grandfather, who used to say that you should never reply immediately to a letter (or an email nowadays) that upsets you, as you might say things that you will very often later regret. This is more or less the same in trading, you should never trade within the scope of emotion and this is easier said than done, even for experienced traders!
Successful Forex traders generally follow a “trading plan” with great precision. This is a personal method, a kind of tutorial to know what to look for, on what bases and what rules to follow when practicing trading.