So, what is your biggest challenge as a trader?

by: Colibri Trader

In the past week I did a trading experiment. I have asked over 20 traders what is their biggest challenge as a trader– THEMSELVES or THE MARKET. All of the responses I did receive are mixed, but there is definitely a big majority that believes that one of the above is their biggest challenge. Guess which one is it…Have a look below for some of the responses I’ve received in their respective order:

#1 THE market. I sometimes don’t understand. If I have a system that works, I can stick to it unemotionally. I’m like a robot in that regard. The problem is, my system itself doesn’t always work that well lol.
#2 NO system is going to give you guaranteed returns. There will be ups and downs and your job is to make sure there are more ups than downs in the long-run. I suggest you try playing poker to gain a better understanding of expected value and variance.

 

#3 a) STICKING to my Strategy. I started setting my stops and limits, then closing my platform. I’m usually right. And when im not, my R2R ratio saves me. b) Keeping a journal.

 

#4 A LITTLE late but, that journal thing is starting to make more sense to me. A closed blog or just a notebook where you write down what you did right and what you did wrong is awesome.

 

#5 MYSELF. Mastering oneself is way more difficult than whatever the market throws at you.

 

#6 ACCURATELY predicting what people a lot smarter than me are going to do on a daily basis. Ohh and having a lot of capital would be nice too.

 

#7 DON’Tpredict, react. Takes a lot of pressure off if you realise this is what you need to do.

 

#8 I’M at the point where i know what i need to do i just need to refine it and practice until I’m profitable. All well juggling a growing full time career so i can fund this snowball. So…… I’m probably only like 10-15 years away from profitability!

 

#9 HAVING enough time

 

#10 MYSELF. Currently my biggest challenge is trying to articulate my recent experiences and understandings into a coherent, reliable, repeatable, simple strategy.

 

#11 MYSELF. When I first started trading I’d work all day, over time though I got lazy because it’s not the challenge it once was. Planning to automate everything this summer so I don’t have to worry about it anymore though.

 

#12 MYSELF. Boredom, not doing anything for longer than I expected, accepting that this is a boring job.

 

#13 AS a Forex trader … Black Swans.

 

#14 WHEN I get cocky, I lose.

 

Conclusion: As you can see, the biggest setback for the majority of the people I asked is their own psychology. For good or for bad, it seems that the hardest thing to master is ourselves. I keep on striving for perfection every day and hour and believe that although I am never going to be perfect, I will become a better trader by just trying to improve. Learning as we go is the best we can do. Controlling emotions and helping others is what should be motivating us! Share this article if you believe it has helped you become a better trader somehow.