A lot of new traders today tend to see day trading as an easy path to wealth. They have this notion that so long as they have a good strategy, they can earn a ton of money.
We wish that day trading is as simple as that – but it’s not. To be a profitable day trader, key traits must be developed gradually.
We list down five traits that you should develop to be a successful day trader:
Discipline
When things get tough and tempting, many traders tend to veer away from their trading plan. When it’s not followed, it shows that the trader’s mind is preoccupied, so their logic shuts down. Furthermore, they take more trades than they should, get distracted or skip trades and exit on a trade prematurely.
Your level of discipline is what will decide your fate in day trading. Without a firm grasp of discipline, you’ll be tempted to do things that could get your plan derailed. You will also miss a lot of profitable opportunities if you cannot tame your emotions.
Discipline also means not doing anything when there are no opportunities at the moment.
Patience
Patience is closely tied with discipline.
In day trading, you must learn early on that it requires a LOT of waiting. One common problem that new traders share is they enter or exit trades too early or too late. Generally, it will be better if you can wait a little longer to catch any opportunity that may pop up anytime.
You should also be ready for actions that call for patience and those that require quick responses.
Adaptability
Having a ton of strategies is not enough if you can’t utilize them properly. What separates successful traders from others is that they implement their strategies in all types of market conditions.
A rigid mind won’t last in this venture. Day trading calls for a fluid and flexible mind.
You must be able to look at the price action everyday and determine if you should implement your strategies or not. Real-time implementations of strategies must be one of the top capabilities of a day trader.
Mental Toughness
If you are too sensitive and emotional, the market will certainly drive you crazy. But the successful traders you see today are the tough ones who have endured countless pains in trading.
They too had their fair share of losses and discouragement, but they remained strong enough to endure them all. The secret here is to summon your toughness every time you experience a setback.
Do not be discouraged. Skipping a trade because of discouragement may waste your chance of bouncing back. You must also be reminded that losing streaks happen. You must stay focused and not let the loss of capital affects your judgement.
Independence
Right from the very start, you must aim for independence. But no, we’re not saying that you should just go on your own. What we mean is, every step you take, from reading books, being under a mentor or a service subscription, it must all point to one direction: independence.
Be intentional with coming up with your own trading strategy because you are not supposed to be mentored forever. Once you’ve come up with your own trading strategy through careful planning, any doubts will now be hard to recognize.
Independence doesn’t mean that you should literally have to go alone. It only means you have to be able to use your critical thinking to find out what works and what doesn’t.
Related article: 3 Successful Keys to Use Basic Forex Techniques