7 Habits Of Highly Effective Traders

They say, “Your habits determine your success in business.” The same goes to trading, here are 7 habits that will drastically turn you from an amateur trader to a highly effective trader:

HABIT 1: SET GOALS AND HAVE PLANS TO ACHIEVE THEM 

If you’d like to have the dream body you want, the only way to achieve it is to have a workout plan, and then executing your plans by going to the gym, eating a balanced diet etc. The same applies to trading, the only way for you to stand a chance against the markets is to have a solid trading plan.

Successful traders plan their trade, and trade their plan. Having a “get-rich-quick” mindset is definitely not an option if you want to be a successful trader.

HABIT 2: HAVE A BALANCED DIET & HEALTHY LIFESTYLE TO HELP KEEP FOCUSED THROUGHOUT THE DAY 

Having a healthy lifestyle is crucial to help a trader achieve success. As difficult as it may be, it’s time to put aside junks and start consuming more healthy food. Go for a run in the evening, do your push-ups and jumping jacks.

Having focus is one of the most important element in trading. From generating trading ideas to implementing them on the trading screen, traders need focus to ensure that their trading plan is executed properly. After all, you wouldn’t want to be dozing off while putting that 1 million dollar trade!

Have you ever wondered why successful entrepreneurs can stay focused throughout the day, while the rest of us were left drained after coming back from the office? It’s simply because they adopt to a healthy lifestyle.

HABIT 3: LEARN CONSISTENTLY TO GAIN MORE PERSPECTIVES

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett had both credited their success to books that they have read. Sources said that Bill Gates reads an estimated 50 books per year, which translates to 1 book per week! Can you imagine how much information is he absorbing in a week? I’m sure we can all agree that this guy is definitely a genius!

Successful traders never stop learning to improve themselves. You can read, you can attend courses, you can watch videos, or you can exchange ideas with a network of traders. All these would account for one thing: Your Growth.

However, with that being said, traders also need to be careful with the information they have collected from elsewhere. This is because not all information are true, and I would always recommend traders to learn to process information themselves, rather than relying on other sources.

HABIT 4: NETWORK WITH SUCCESSFUL TRADERS TO BECOME BETTER

We always hear people say this: “Your network is your net worth.” This is true. Imagine having a group of friends with the same goals and mindsets – to become successful traders, wouldn’t you feel motivated naturally? This makes ‘going forward’ becomes inevitable! Conversely, if one associates himself with a bunch of people with negative mindsets, the effect would be otherwise.

Of course, it is important to help traders who need help, but it is equally crucial to have a network of successful traders that you can rely on to push you to become better. Think of it in this way: The better you become, the more you can help others!

HABIT 5: TAKE RESPONSIBILITY ON YOUR DECISIONS

People tend to find excuses or put the blame on others when something is not right. Have you ever had a plan to do something, but years have passed and you still had not started anything?

The truth is, you have no one to blame except for yourselves.

Successful traders never blame others for the losses they made. Instead, they will accept their mistakes whole-heartedly, and make improvements. At the end of the day, success depends on our own choices and responsibilities.

HABIT 6: BE OPTIMISTIC & KNOW HOW TO CONTROL YOUR EMOTION

Talk about taking responsibilities, traders are master of their emotions. Have you ever tried to take on a trade and you were so afraid that you would lose it all? It may be because you are exposing too much of risk, or you may have entered a trade that you weren’t confident at all. Either way, your emotions are affected.

This is where the part of “planning our trade, and trading our plan” comes in to place. By having a proper trading plan, the impacts of every decisions we make would become ‘crystal clear,’ and this inevitably eliminates unnecessary worries and fear.

HABIT 7: REFLECT, IMPROVE, REPEAT

How difficult it is to tell yourself that you are wrong? Imagine if you have had a trading plan in place, and you had been sticking to your plan for the past six years. You were so convinced that you were right, but in reality you have been wrong all the time. How would you feel? Pretty uncomfortable, right?

The truth is, most traders were wrong, but those who chose to admit their mistakes and make improvements are the ones who will succeed at the end of the day.

Conclusion:

There you have it, the seven habits of highly effective traders. Of course, there are some traders who possess little to none of the above, but still making money. In fact, I have a friend who never watches his diet, and still managed to rake in millions every year!

But this is the message that I want to put across: “The more positive habits you possess, the closer you will be to success.” After all, having these positive habits would not only make you stay ahead of the game, but also makes you a happier trader.

To end this article, here is one bonus habit that you can practice to help you become a successful trader.

#BONUS: BE HELPFUL TO THOSE WHO NEEDS HELP

Successful people loves helping people to solve problems, and strives to provide more value to the society. They have the mindset of: “The more help I can provide to others, the more value I create to the society. Ultimately, profit is only a by-product of the value I have created.”

Not only would helping people creates value, it also helps us to stay on top of the game. By constantly exposing ourselves to face other people’s challenges, our minds are constantly triggered to come up with solutions. This repetitive exercise makes us become stronger day by day.

That is why we see successful billionaires like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have been retaining their No. 1 spot for years.