candytrade

Our job, as traders, is complex and difficult. We are exposed to daily challenges since we cannot control the market in either direction, or better yet, the direction we want it to take. When trading, there are many feelings and emotions involved each and every moment, so what is it that motivates us and attracts us to this stressful pace of life? In my opinion, it is the passion and love for trading, which is necessary, but unfortunately, not sufficient for success. We should pay greater attention to the emotional aspect we face when trading daily. If you enjoy to trade, you are having a positive emotional experience (what psychiatrists refer to as psychological well-being of the trader). A person experiencing this feeling of well being is able to maintain at all times a positive mood that generates happiness, and an overall positive perception that gives you optimism and great physical energy. Unfortunately, most of us do not feel this way all the time. In fact, several of these factors may come and go depending on the circumstances that surround us, the personality traits of each person, the environment in which we live, and especially the degree to which we satisfy or frustrate our own needs. This is where our emotional tone comes to life. After experiencing several days of losses in our portfolio, thus begins a spiral of emotions, including unhappiness, frustration and lack of energy, which can stagger our learning curve and development as traders. We may easily think that our efforts are not proving successful, when that is not exactly the case. Given these factors, the dominant emotional experiences must be pride, satisfaction and sense of achievement. This does not mean that you have to be happy each day of work (obviously, this is not realistic), but it is important to find the right balance between positive emotional experiences and negative attitude. Another aspect is having a good physical energy. The mental state of happiness, enthusiasm, motivation, and overall satisfaction are difficult to maintain when you are physically and emotionally exhausted. Fatigue is the number one enemy of concentration and attention, forcing us to use our mental reserves to keep focus and worse, we are much more likely to commit the same past mistakes, when in this mental state. It requires constant attention to remain goal-oriented; we need a fully alert and active mind. This is very important because the active trader is present in the continuity of the market. He can easily identify the trading areas and execute trades with confidence and minimizing the mental risk, by overcoming feelings of doubt, and trusting his system in each trade. All this work takes time, energy and constant attention. When our body is exhausted, we lose the ability of concentration. At this point, even the simplest levels of reasoning can harm our results. Exercise is one of the most overlooked aspects of the trader. Hours and hours sitting in front of a screen does not help our health, much less promote your aerobic capacity. This is something that would not hurt to start taking into account. Sincerely, Charlie Bertou