Tackling Your Flaws and Becoming a Better Trader

What are your flaws?

 

 

I have quite a few flaws myself.

1. Easily distracted
2. Lack direction
3. Vengeful and quick to anger

You would think these three traits would take a massive toll on my trading, but they don’t. They don’t because I do not let them. I put a lot of effort into not letting my flaws ruin my trading. I am going to be honest with you. This was an immense task for me and had I not tackled it I would not have been a successful trader. In this article, I am going to show you how I conquered my flaws.

All of us have flaws that can interfere with the success of our trading. It is unfortunate but it is a fact. Successful traders are not people who were born to be traders, they are normal people like you and me. They have their flaws and they battle them, in order to keep trading successfully. One of the many things that sets a successful trader apart from an unsuccessful trader is successful traders recognise their own flaws.

Do you know your flaws?

If you don’t you need to figure them out. It is not a hard job. You should know yourself well enough to know your flaws. Maybe you’re a little too vengeful and take revenge trades. Maybe you’re too fearful and you are afraid to enter the markets. Whatever your flaws are, take some time now to figure them out in your head.

Got them? Good!

Now it’s time to get a piece of paper (or open up your word processor) and write them down. Start by just writing in one or two words what your flaws are. Here is an example of my list:

1. Easily distracted
2. Lack direction
3. Vengeful and quick to anger

Once you have done that it is time to expand on the flaws. Just write in a sentence or two how the flaws effect your trading. Here is an example of my list:

1. Easily distracted: I tend to start playing PC games or watching movies and miss trades.

2. Lack direction: Some weeks I trade but some weeks I just can’t be bothered and I spend the week lazing about. When this happens, for too many weeks, I lose my edge and it takes time to get back into the flow of trading.

3. Quick to anger and vengeful: When a trade doesn’t go my way I can get pretty angry and take revenge trades. These trades more than often do not work out and affect my account balance.

Ok now your flaws are all written down and you can see how they affect your trading. For me, this was a real eye opener. When I first had this list in front of me, a few years ago, I realized how much these things were actually impacting my trading.

The next step is for you to write down a solution to each of these flaws. Now I can’t help you with the solution to your flaws, only you can know that. However, I can show you an example of mine:

1. Easily distracted: I tend to start playing PC games or watching movies and miss trades.
Solution: Get rid of my PC games for the time being and stop downloading movies.

2. Lack direction: Some weeks I trade but some weeks I just can’t be bothered and I spend the week lazing about. When this happens, for too many weeks, I lose my edge and it takes time to get back into the flow of trading.
Solution: Write out a trading plan which sets out weekly and monthly targets. Exercise some discipline and stick to my plan.

3. Quick to anger and vengeful: When a trade doesn’t go my way I can get pretty angry and take revenge trades. These trades, more than often, do not work out and affect my account balance.
Solution: Write out a trading plan which sets out the type of trades I take. Set out rules to govern my trading. When I lose a trade I need to step away from the computer and have a 5 minute break. That way I can come back with a clear mind.

The next step is to not just forget about this list but to read it weekly, and put those solutions into action. Good traders know their weaknesses. So if you want to succeed, make it easier on yourself and recognise your flaws.