Have you ever wondered if you really have what it takes to be a successful investor or trader? While financial wizards come from all walks of life, there are a number of personality traits that they share. Sometimes they have to work hard to strengthen these traits, and other times these abilities come naturally. However, no matter how hard you have to work, developing these traits yourself will set you on the road to better trading.
Total discipline
You can’t be disciplined some of the time – you have to be consistently disciplined day in and day out. That doesn’t mean that you have to spend all of your time trading – in fact, that way madness lies. What it does mean that when you are trading, you are totally committed – both to the moment, and to becoming better over time.
An enthusiastic loser
Well, no one actually likes losing – but it’s a fact of life for traders, so you have to get used to it. The important thing is to welcome losses as an opportunity to learn. The worst things you can do are to become reluctant after you lose, and to blame your losses on fate. Great traders take their losses in stride and learn from them – that way they move on to better and better things.
A dedicated student
Winning traders make a study of the market, and never think that they have learnt all that there is to learn. The market changes over time, and your understanding of the market has to evolve as well. If you jump in without really understanding the market, you’re doomed to fail in the long term. If you continue to educate yourself and apply what you learn to your trading, you increase your chances to end up a winner.
Not one of the herd
The majority of retail traders and investors listen to the news and other media, and then join whatever is the stampede of the day. They often don’t think for themselves, and instead react with greed and fear. Winning traders don’t do this – they think for themselves and make their own decisions. That doesn’t mean that they always run against the market – there’s lots of money that may be made in following a trend – but they do it because they know what they’re doing, not because they’re running blind.
Patience
They say that patience is a virtue, and that goes a hundredfold for trading. Yes, you need to act quickly, but when you do it should be because you have a proactive plan, not because of a kneejerk reaction. Don’t take excessive risks because you want to make money too quickly, and don’t chase poor opportunities just because you can’t stand to be out of the market.
Work/life balance
Traders in high-pressure jobs burn out far too often. If you put every second of your time into trading, then you are going to burn out too. Winning traders know that to be successful in the long term, you have to invest in enjoying your life, not just growing your bank balance.
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