Acknowledge Limitations But Think Positively

Acknowledge Limitations But Think Positively

Jimmy complains to his best friend, “It’s impossible to trade the markets profitably. They are rigged. I don’t have enough capital. The markets are so volatile that I can’t get in and out to take home a profit. It all seems hopeless.” He paints a dismal picture, doesn’t he? But there is a grain of truth in what Jimmy claims: The markets are hard to trade. If it were easy, then everyone would be making millions, right? If you want to find reasons to avoid trading the markets, you can find them, but if you want to be one of the select few who continues to take home profits, it is vital that you develop a fighting spirit and be ready to overcome any possible obstacle that may stand in your way.

Successful people truly believe that if they put in the time and effort, they will succeed. This approach to life isn’t the same as a Pollyanna, unrealistic outlook. People have limitations. Some people are more intelligent than others. Some people use their intuition to guide them toward making astute decisions; others have strong concrete analytical skills. Although a strong will to succeed is a vital prerequisite for success, it isn’t the only thing you need. Talent is necessary as well. It’s a fact that if you don’t have the skills for trading, you’ll never make it in this cutthroat business. That said, the fact that you must have talent and skill to trade profitably doesn’t mean you should throw in the towel at the first sign of failure. How do you know that you don’t have the required talent unless you persist at honing your skills and seeing how far you can go? You may be a natural born trader, but you will never know until you put in the time and effort to fully realize your potential.

An optimistic attitude is essential for trading success, but you must also work with what you have. The winning trader acknowledges limitations. This means taking a good hard look at your financial and intellectual resources, and figuring out a realistic plan for maximizing them. Few people can take a good, hard honest look at themselves, however. They may trade to satisfy strong needs for approval. They may yearn for success and the status that comes with it. Don’t get me wrong; the need for success can drive a person to reach dizzying heights, but it all must be put in the proper perspective. You have to think, “It would be nice to achieve success, but I don’t need to be successful.” It’s a great irony: if you need success too badly, you’ll choke under the pressure as you try to achieve it. If you have a more carefree attitude, though, such as when you think, “I’ll see what happens and accept my fate,” you will end up more successful.

Jimmy’s problem is that he wants success too badly, and his mind rightly tells him that it isn’t gong to be easy. Naturally, he focuses on the obstacles, and in the trading arena, there are endless obstacles. If you don’t have adequate capital, you will fail. If you don’t have a method for identifying profitable setups, you can’t possibly win enough times to end up profitable. If you are impulsive and have discipline problems, you will make numerous trading errors or fail to stick with your trading plan. If you want to find reasons to leave the field, you won’t have any trouble finding them. The key difference between the winner and the loser, however, is that the winner acknowledges limitations and obstacles, but never gives up when it comes to overcoming them. So you really don’t have enough capital? Don’t give up; earn it. So you don’t know how to identify profitable setups? You’re not alone. Purchase a trading system or get some high quality coaching and training to identify a trading method that works for you. Don’t try to find a way out, a reason to give up, before you have exhausted all possibilities. If you survey winners in any profession, you’ll find that what is seen as “impossible” is just a matter of opinion. There are people who beat the odds and achieve the “impossible.” It can happen. It’s all a matter of attitude. You decide. You can recoil as you ponder the seemingly endless obstacles that may block your path to success, or you can muster a fighting spirit. You can accept the challenges placed before you and overcome them.