Are you the kind of trader who makes mistake after mistake, yet can’t figure out why you just can’t change? Perhaps you don’t follow your trading plan. Maybe you set your stops too close to your entry point and get stopped out too often, or perhaps you voluntarily exit trades too early. There are many ways to make an error as a trader, and some traders can’t seem to stop making them. At some point, they may start to believe that they have an unconscious drive to sabotage their efforts. It’s as if they can’t learn from their mistakes. One would think that when faced with mistakes and the losses that follow, however, they would straighten up, but it’s not that simple for some traders. Some traders are not motivated to change.
You may ask, doesn’t losing money motivate a person to change? As obvious as the answer may seem, it depends on whether a person is resistant to change. Some people are good at fooling themselves into thinking that they don’t need to change. They may feed their account every month to prevent themselves from seeing how much they are losing. They may pat themselves on the back after every win, but at the same time, pretend that losses don’t bother them.
If you are making error after error, however, it will eventually catch up with you. It’s necessary to change. Change happens when people perceive a discrepancy between what they want in terms of profits and what they are making. If you aren’t living up to your ideals, you will be motivated to change. The hard part is facing up to the fact that you may not be reaching your ideals. Rather than ignore the discrepancy, you have to become aware of it. This may be difficult, however.
For example, if you are actually losing money on your trades, it may be hard to admit. Similarly, if you have been trading for several years and have yet to see a winning year, you may have difficulty owning up to how poorly you have been doing. Your ego may want to cover it up. As hard as it will be to face the discrepancy between your profit goals and your actual profits, you must face it. When you do, you will be motivated to change. The more you can face the discrepancy without flinching, the more motivated you will be to change. There is one more factor that will help you change, however. You must believe that with hard work and persistence, you can change. You must make the commitment to change and work incredibly hard in order to reach your goals.
That may mean admitting that you have to build up more capital. It may mean admitting that you need more training. Or it may mean lowering your standards, but once you look at the discrepancy between your ideals and your goals, you will be ready to change. And once you commit to change, and truly believe you can change, you will reach your potential as a trader.