Trading in the markets can be a mentally challenging profession. It can leave you drained. There are probably days you wish that you could remain in your warm comfortable bed and avoid work altogether. If you have been hit with a trading loss, or worse yet, a string of trading losses, you may feel beaten down.
The easy route would be to feel sorry for yourself and lick your proverbial wounds. However, this negative mindset would be detrimental if you are trying to get back on your feet after a trading loss. Emotional and physical stamina are necessary to insure that you are able to face the trading markets with enthusiasm!
A Little R&R are Needed to Retain Your Physical Stamina
Rest and relaxation are essential to retain your physical stamina. Many traders are adrenaline junkies. However, it takes a serene mindset and psychological fortitude to make a profitable trade and to stick to your plan to insure success! However, no one has an endless reserve of psychological energy. It has a way of depleting itself and it is your responsibility to make sure it does not run on empty. To stay on top of your game, you must be able to concentrate. This helps to guard against making senseless, avoidable trading errors. Bottom line, you must rest and eat healthy to maintain the needed stamina to succeed.
Why are You in the Trades Market?
Harvesting your psychological energy is not an easy endeavor. To do this, you must know why you do, what you do. Only when you enjoy your life, or line of business, can you increase your psychological energy when it is running low. You need to ask yourself why you decided to work in the trades market. On a daily basis, take the time to remind yourself of these reasons to build up your reserves of psychological energy to face another trading day.
Trading for the Sake of Money
There is no "right" reason to become a trader. However, your number one reason shouldn't be for the money. This may be an extremely motivating force, but as the saying goes "it can't buy you happiness". Being a successful trader can buy you the finer things in life like a home on Rodeo Drive, a Ferrari and an impeccable designer wardrobe. Some traders may be motivated to continue on in the markets, even if they do not find their profession particularly fulfilling, if they are successful and able to amass a small fortune.
The downside to the money for money's sake mentality is that it does not fulfil one's sense of accomplishment. As time progresses, your fine home and sports car will lose its luster. Everything that glitters is not gold, and although having money is necessary (and the more the better), it should not be considered a "means to an end".
Self-Actualization: Working at Heightened Performance Levels
You should enjoy the"job" of trading. This can include the mental and psychological challenges, learning new trading methods, or the sense of fulfilment you derive by seeing your hard work come to fruition. By loving what you do, you are less apt to "throw in the towel" when the going gets rough. During a downturn or a loss, you pick yourself up and keep going onward, because at the end of the day, you can think of no other job you would love more.
Seasoned professionals have talents and skills cultivated from hard work and continually seeking knowledge regarding the trades market. This is due to their love of the sport, per se. In this self-actualization, inherently fulfilling emotional state, traders work at heightened performance levels, as they know they are right where they should be, doing what they enjoy.
Achieving a "Higher Purpose"
For some, neither the pursuit of money or self-actualization is enough. It is important for them to believe that they are somehow achieving a "higher purpose". This could be providing for their family or contributing to their community or society at large. Others may have a higher calling to train those interested in the trades' arena. Whatever your reason may be for being in the trades market, you need to remind yourself of them daily.
There are as many reasons to trade, as there are people in the "business". Whatever your motivation, you need to remind yourself of these reasons daily. Write them on a post-it note and stick it on your computer. This way it will always be in front of you. These daily reminders will keep you motivated to overcome obstacles and continue on in a business that is often fickle and ultimately out of your control.