3 Traits of Successful Traders

Last night, I was taking my 9 year old to his Boxing lesson.  On the way, I asked to him to start putting on his hand-wraps, as coach has been telling him to practice doing this himself.  It takes us about 25 minutes to get to the gym and I thought it was a good time for him to practice, while in the car.  Within 2 minutes of him starting to wrap, I hear him start to grumble and get frustrated.  I encouraged him to keep going and reminded him that coach wants him to start wrapping his hands on his own, an accountability thing.  Well, that didn't help much, too say the least.  My son said, I am just gonna wait till we get to the gym and coach will wrap me up.

I proceeded to talk to him about 3 points, Patience, Confidence, Commitment to Excellence.

These 3 points are also very important in the developmental journey of a trader.  

1) Patience - I encouraged him to keep wrapping his hands and that we were in no rush, be patient my son.  Often times in my own trading, I want my trade to pay off immediately and not endure any pain in the duration of the trade.  Displaying patience in a trade is most difficult when our trade is not attached to a proper plan.  Create a business plan for each trade including Entry, Risk Exit, Reward Exit, Time Duration, and you will have a much easier time being patient and allowing the trade to evolve.  Focus on consistency and accuracy in following your plan.

2) Confidence - I also told my son to be confident in his ability to wrap his hands.  Even if he did not succeed right now, by practicing, he would develop the skill.  If he allowed this situation to dampen his spirits, how could he climb in the ring and prepare himself for a match.  Building confidence in a trade, asset class or strategy can take time.  It often takes making mistakes, but most importantly learning from those mistakes.  I suggest keeping a detailed trade journal.  Include information like Entry Time, Product, B/S, Entry Price, Exit Time, Exit Price, Why did you take the trade, Why did you get out (emotions, plan, boredom) and a Grade.  Every one of the successful traders I have been around, keep some sort of journal.  As your confidence increases, don't stop keeping a journal, stay disciplined.  Your journal quickly becomes a reference guide of what and what not to do, learn from it.

3) Commitment to Excellence - Finally, I encouraged my son to be Committed to Excellence.  Neither his Coach or myself expected him to perfectly wrap his hands, but we both expected him to give his best.  I have been telling both of my boys, since they were born, to be Committed to Excellence, especially in their Four F's (Faith, Family, Finances, Fitness).  Excellence is defined as "Performing at a High Level, for a Long Period of Time".  Be committed to that journey and growth.  Trading success does not happen overnight. It tests you in every way possible and exposes your weaknesses, it is up to you to develop patience and confidence to identify and overcome those weaknesses.  Commit yourself to being prepared.  If you trade with multiple time-frames in mind, do your homework and know in advance what the longer time-frame looks like, be prepared for battle.

In the end, my son continued to wrap his hands and I re-wrapped them when we got to the gym.  He didn't quit and showed up to boxing in the right frame of mind, ready to take a beating (haha).

Peace,

"Hemi"