While knowledge of standard trading practices is necessary to becoming a successful trader, there are many other necessary skills for trading in financial markets. Your psychological health and capabilities are just as important in ensuring your success. Controlling your emotions, thinking quickly, and being disciplined under high-pressure situations is a key component to being successful in this business.
You must keep your mind calm to be able to make sensible trading decisions, as it is your most important instrument for performance. This, combined with your trading knowledge, are vital to your success.
Greed
Your greed can be a very powerful factor. It could have disastrous effects on your success if you are not careful. Greed can lead you to take far riskier trades than you should. Greed can also cause you to keep a position for far longer than is necessary, past the point where it would have any significant profits. These sorts of emotions tend to bubble up towards the end of a bull market. At this point investors can become very speculative on future market patterns.
Fear
Many traders overreact and can make sudden decisions when bad news on the market is received. Liquidating their holdings is a common reaction, to avoid any effects from further downturns or to avoid taking any risks. This could be wise, but it could also easily lead to a loss in potential profits. While fear is natural and useful, every investor must balance it with their reason. You must keep your fear in mind when making a decision, what you are afraid of, why you are afraid, and how rational this fear is.
To keep your mind sharp and on the ball, you must be disciplined and plan ahead for potential future events. You must create a list of guidelines for yourself to keep your emotions in check; keeping in mind what could happen and how you may react to such an event, consider when you should enter and exit a trade.
Keep in mind your whole range of emotions, whether this is keeping your greed in check, or analyzing your fears to see if they are legitimate. Whatever the case, you must plan ahead on how they can impact your trading. Develop trading rules, experiment, and self-analyze from time to time.
