Are you tired of the good old trading tips for beginners?
Here are some unusual (but very useful!) tips I’ve received from trading professionals:
1. Don’t look at profit and loss.
Wait, what..?
That’s right, close the P/L tab on your trading platform or cover this panel with tape if necessary.
For beginners, it’s tempting to focus only on these final numbers because they’re the main scoreboard that’s almost impossible to ignore.
However, every win or loss may eventually reinforce your trading biases before you even realize them, enough to mislead your decision-making process.
Instead, as author Mike Belfiore writes in his book, One good tradeIt makes more sense to “focus on your goal of developing skills first and improving them every day, day after day.”
You may be wondering how you can measure your progress if you don’t check the profit/loss numbers in your trading account.
Well, if you keep a detailed trading log of these important metrics, you’ll know that there are plenty of other ways to track improvements (or lack thereof) and adjustments you need to make.
2. Take a vacation
With the Forex market being open 24 hours a day, every day of the week, you may be worried about missing out on great trading opportunities if you don’t keep an eye on the charts at all times.
Even if you have set up a trading schedule that gives you a good work-life balance, you may still feel guilty about taking some days off if you don’t feel like trading.
The good news is that the market never runs out of good trading setups, it’s just a matter of to be alert and ready To catch them when they happen.
The problem is that you will have days when you are not at your best. You may feel down when you are sick, moving to a new house, or going through a difficult breakup.
What you need to tell yourself is that it’s okay to take a break from trading rather than force yourself to continue. Athletes who are injured or have mental health issues aren’t forced to play, right? Take it from the best gymnasts. Simone Biles itself!
The market doesn’t care if you make more setups and doesn’t reward you for putting in more hours. It’s the quality of the trading decisions you make that makes all the difference.
3. Make only one trade per day.
Most novice traders are prone to overtrading, believing that taking more setups improves their chances of winning.
These are not lottery tickets, guys!
One of my favorite trading psychologists, Dr. Brett Steinberger, believes that overtrading is due to a mismatch between profit expectations and market volatility.
In other words, traders often feel the need to capture multiple market moves in order to achieve their goals.
If you want to maximize your opportunities and skills, you may want to consider being more selective in your trades.
Day Trading Coach and Author Galen Woods He proposes a “one-shot” business plan that sets an absolute one-shot rule that forces you to think as if you only have one bullet left. This means you have to aim correctly and pull the trigger at the right time in order to get the most out of your one bullet.
Although these tips may seem counterintuitive at first, you may be surprised to see how they can positively impact your trading mindset and ultimately your profitability.