Winning traders are calm and relaxed. They don’t put unnecessary pressure on themselves, stress themselves out, and then crack under the pressure. They don’t believe that they must succeed on any single trade, but they see a single trade as just one trade among many. They don’t need to be right. They don’t impose their will on the market. And they don’t try to predict the future behaviour of the market. Instead, they objectively observe market conditions, make a detailed plan of attack, and let the market take them where it wants them to go.
They stay calm and relaxed, and ready to anticipate what will happen next. They trade with a peak performance mental state in that they freely enter and exit trades without worrying about the consequences. This carefree approach to trading allows them to see trading opportunities more easily and allows them to take advantage of these opportunities when they arise. You can take concrete, specific steps to cultivate this peak performance mindset.
The first step is to make sure that you are rested. Many people think they can get away with a minimal amount of sleep or skip nutritious meals. But proper nutrition and adequate sleep are necessary to cultivate an optimal mindset. Trading saps up psychological energy, and psychological energy is limited, so it is vital that you take steps to maximize your energy through proper sleep and nutrition.
Trading in a peak performance mindset requires intense concentration and focus, but it’s difficult to maintain this stance when the pressure is on you to perform. Thus, a second step you can do is to reduce any psychological pressure that may potentially use up additional psychological energy. The most obvious way to relieve such pressure is to think in terms of probabilities and carefully manage risk. It’s useful to remember that you may not win on any single trade, but after a series of trades, you will have enough winners to make a profit in the long run. It’s also important to manage your risk.
Determine your risk upfront and risk only a small amount of trading capital on a single trade. Doing so will ease a lot of the pressure, allowing you to be more open to seeing the opportunities that the market offers. By taking preventative steps to maximize both your physical and psychological energy, you can be relaxed, rested, and ready to tackle the markets.