Hello readers. It’s been a while since I published a blog post here. I must admit, It’s been a very hectic year. Whenever I do get some time to publish some content, podcasting comes to mind because there, I just talk and it doesn’t take much time. Anyway, things have settled a bit this side and I will try my best to update this platform like I used to do. Today I want to address the issues that cause traders to quit trading within a year or even less. Below are the top 5 reasons why this happens. There’s definitely more, but I will only mention 5.
Impatience
Most traders are so impatient with themselves and they expect to get straight to the part where they are amazing without giving themselves enough time to practice and gain the necessary experience. If you get a new job, you still need to gain experience of how to do the job no matter how qualified you are.
You are also likely to make more mistakes as compared to an experienced employee. This is the main reason why employers would prefer to hire someone who not only has the necessary qualification but the experience as well.
It saves the company a lot of money if they hire an experienced employee. As a trader, you also need to think about that and give yourself time to gain the necessary experience. As you gain it, you will also make a few mistakes and eventually master your craft. Be patient with yourself and stop wanting to be a perfectionist. Remember that all the people you read about would not have made it if they were not patient.
Wanting to make money right away and very fast
Think about starting a business. When you start a business, you need to understand that you may not live off of it right away. You need to understand that you may even be required to support it financially before it can support you.
A business needs you to take care of it before it can take care of you. You may even go for a whole year without earning a salary from your business. You do not quit just because you are not yet earning a salary from it, you do whatever it takes to learn as much as you can about your business and eventually, your business takes care of you. It is the same with trading, you may not make money right away. Also just do away with the “making money fast” mentality. Now everything that I mentioned will only make sense to you if you can start treating your trading account as a business.
Funding with a small amount but expecting miracles
Now, the internet and social media have sold Forex trading as the quickest way to make money with zero effort and a minimal investment, this is not true. Your earning potential is highly linked to your start up capital. Money gives us options. When you have more money, you also have more financial instruments to choose from.
Let’s say you start trading with $100, even if you can make 100% (which is mostly unsustainable, story for another day) this will mean you now have $200 and I doubt you can make a living with that amount. If you have small capital to start trading with, you can start with what you have and grow your account. I have published an episode on this topic and it is the most listened to episode on my podcast. LISTEN HERE.
Viewing trading as some game
Most traders think trading is some kind of a game that is not related to anything that is happening in the global markets. The change in the Interest rates/Monetary policy, GDP, CPI and many other economic factors, have a direct impact on the economy and they affect the currencies and stocks that we all trade. If one is looking for a hobby or a game, they must look elsewhere because trading can be a very expensive hobby if treated as one.
Wanting the process to fall in love with you.
Most of us would really love to see the process falling in love with us sometimes. Unfortunately, life does not work like that. Trading is the journey of self discovery. If you will have to develop confidence, patience and consistency. If you don’t fall in love with the whole process, you will definitely give up even when you are just about to make it. One of the best tools that I have been using is keeping a Trading Journal. It helps with keeping consistency, tracking my progress, identifying areas that need attention and sticking to my trading plan.
I hope you have identified your own struggles that made you quit or maybe you were about to quit. Start working on them and see if you can get back to trading and this time around, approach it with a renewed mindset.
Thank you for stopping by. If you love what you read and found value here, kindly share with your peers and stay tuned for more posts. Happy trading.
Hello Subscriber, If you are not yet a subscriber, please subscribe so you can receive notifications on weekly economic news and other publications. This week we have 16 major economic releases.
Always understand that the markets do not move randomly, they are affected by such economic news. Incorporating fundamentals into your day trading helps you plan your trading week, spend less time studying charts day and night and be able to trade while having your 9-5 job, school or a business. I have published an episode on my podcast titled “why you shouldn’t ignore fundamentals” you can listen HERE.
If you live in South Africa, you are aware that we are facing a big challenge with our electricity and have daily load-shedding. During load-shedding, the network gets affected and we sometimes experience a very slow internet connection.
When you have incorporated fundamentals, you can also plan around it and ensure that you don’t schedule any trading sessions during that time. This is to avoid a situation where you find yourself stuck in trades. If you have been trading but only relying on technical analysis and wish to start incorporating fundamentals and to learn how the markets work, WhatsApp +27 78 144 6851 to enrol for my fundamental analysis course, mentorship and coaching. You can also listen to my latest podcast episode HERE.
Kindly share this app with your peers. Below is our weekly economic calendar. Thank you for stopping by. Happy trading.
Hello Subscriber, If you are not yet a subscriber, please subscribe so you can receive notifications on weekly economic news and other publications. This week we have 10 major economic releases.
Always understand that the markets do not move randomly, they are affected by such economic news. Incorporating fundamentals into your day trading helps you plan your trading week, spend less time studying charts day and night and be able to trade while having your 9-5 job, school or a business. I have published an episode on my podcast titled “why you shouldn’t ignore fundamentals” you can listen HERE.
If you live in South Africa, you are aware that we are facing a big challenge with our electricity and have daily load-shedding. During load-shedding, the network gets affected and we sometimes experience a very slow internet connection.
When you have incorporated fundamentals, you can also plan around it and ensure that you don’t schedule any trading sessions during that time. This is to avoid a situation where you find yourself stuck in trades. If you have been trading but only relying on technical analysis and wish to start incorporating fundamentals and to learn how the markets work, WhatsApp +27 78 144 6851 to enrol for my fundamental analysis course, mentorship and coaching. You can also listen to my latest podcast episode HERE.
Kindly share this app with your peers. Below is our weekly economic calendar. Thank you for stopping by. Happy trading.
Trading psychology refers to the emotions and mental state of a trader. It determines a trader’s success or failure. In my simplest explanation, trading psychology is how you behave in the markets. If you can fix your behaviour and how you handle yourself in the markets, you can see great improvement. Most traders lose money because of their behaviour and not their strategies.
I have published an episode on my podcast titled “the importance of personal development” because working on yourself is crucial. You have to keep your trading psychology in check at all times and working on yourself should be an ongoing thing. In this post, I will be tackling 5 ways to help you to master your trading psychology. Without further ado, let me get straight to it.
1.Greed
Most traders struggle with greed, I struggled with greed a lot as well. A trader who is controlled by greed tends to make risky and uncalculated decisions and as a result take huge losses. On a very good trading day, a greedy trader makes a lot of profits but gives it all back to the markets and has nothing to show for it at the end of the day. Profits go as far as account history but they are never kept. If this is you currently, you need to focus on working on this.
2.Fear
Fear is not bad and it is an emotion that alerts us of danger. Fear is bad if you allow it to control you. As a beginner trader, you will definitely feel fearful. Just like a new driver feels scared to drive on the road alone, a beginner trader feels the same. If you buy a car after obtaining a driver’s license and just park in nicely in your garage because you are scared, you’ll never master driving.
You can only master driving if you drive alone on the road and even if you can scratch your new car, you continue driving it and eventually you will stop scratching it as the fear subsides and you get used to driving it. It is the same with trading, you have to be actively doing it and that’s how you get rid of fear and gain the necessary experience.
Traders who are fearful are likely to close good trades prematurely and try by all means to avoid risk. You cannot avoid risk but you can manage it. If you want to completely avoid risk, you should not even think about being a trader. You may like to listen to this podcast episode on how to manage your money.
3.Detach From The Money
Detaching from the money may sound like I am saying do not care for your money. That is not what I am saying, what I mean by detaching is that do not stress much about making huge profits right away but rather focus on getting it right even if you break even. When you are too attached to your money, this becomes impossible to do.
I also do not encourage traders to trade with the money that they need for rent, school fees etc. or even trading with borrowed money. All these add unnecessary pressure which may lead to making countless mistakes. As a trader, you want to be as relaxed as possible. If let’s say you have R10 000 and it’s you last money, do not fund your account with all of it. Split it into half and use the other half to create an income while you trade with the the other half. You stress less when you have cashflow and you can then nurture your account and allow it to grow. You attract more money when you don’t stress about it.
4.Keep A Trading Journal
A trader who keeps a trading journal is an organized trader. A trading journal allows you to “take stock” of your trades, plan your trades, stick to your trading plan and also to keep track of your progress. It helps you create a roadmap that you can review and see where you need to improve. I have published a digital trading journal and is currently on special, you can WhatsApp +27 78 144 6851 to purchase (DO NOT PURCHASE ONLINE, The price is NOT YET UPDATED)
5. Regret
Regret keeps you unhappy. You always regret missing an opportunity, you regret placing a trade, and you regret closing it. I always tell my mentees that remaining happy is very important. Be happy when you make a lot of money, be happy when you are not making much, also be happy even when your trade goes against you because even though you may not control what happens in the markets, you can always control yourself and manage your funds and operate your account like a business and apply basic business principles.
Check out my money management course that will teach you how to manage your trading account like a business and never experience a margin call. Enrol and start learning right away. You can listen to the audio version of this post HERE.
Thank you for stopping by. Kindly share this post and help me reach as many traders as possible. Don’t forget to subscribe for notifications on future publications. Download the APP for your weekly economic news updates and the mindset of the week to help you keep your trading psychology in check. These are EXCLUSIVELY posted on the app.
Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is a committee within the Federal Reserve System (the Fed). It’s mandate is to oversee the nation’s open market operations (i.e. the Fed’s buying and selling of United States Treasury securities). This Federal Reserve committee makes key decisions about Interest Rates and the growth of the United States money supply. Interest rates are very important in currency evaluation. Read more about Central Banks and Interest Rates HERE.
On the 1st of February, FOMC will hold their first Monetary Policy meeting of 2023 where they are expected to hike their Interest Rates by 25 basis points, taking them to 4.75% from 4.50%. Planning is key, save these dates to make your trading year more organized. I have published 2 episodes on my podcast about beginning with the end in mind, you can LISTEN here and why I do not ignore fundamentals in my trading, LISTEN here. Since we are on planning, you can also check out this blogpost on how to prepare for your trading year. Read HERE.
Below are the FOMC 2023 dates. Kindly share this post with anyone who may need this information. You can also subscribe to this blog for notifications on new blog posts. If you have an android device, you can also download the App on Google Playstore. For private lessons on how to trade FOMC, WhatsApp +27 78 144 6851. Thank you for stopping by.
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