“I can’t believe I am making all this money to play an elaborate game” – Bill Lipschutz
Top traders think differently from the rest and one of the things I have consistently come across in my study of elite traders is that they view trading as a game.
And not just any game. A game they have won before they started, and where they make the rules.
Why is it important to trading success?
Your success in the market flows directly from your beliefs.
So what does the belief “trading is a game” get you?
- If you view trading as a game and a making a mistake as not following your rules, then it becomes much easier to follow your rules. Whether you make or lose money on a trade is NOT important. What is important is that you follow the rules of the game.
- As you trade in an unlimited environment, you have the ability to make your own rules. When you set the rules to the game, you can stack them in your favour.
- If you believe trading is a game that you have already won, you will eliminate many of the negative thought processes that stop you being successful in the market. This might be hard to conceptualize for some people, but if you have a compelling model of the market, and you write the rules for rigorously testing and implementing a strategy, then it’s easy to go in with the attitude that you are going to win. Furthermore, when you have this attitude, your subconscious (the universe, whatever) is going to find ways to make it true.
- Trading takes passion, commitment and dedication. Is it easy to be passionate and committed about a game you love and believe you can win?
Now contrast this set of beliefs with another set, and think about which are the most likely to produce trading success.
- “Money is important.” If you view money as important, you are more likely to suffer from risk aversion when you are in profit, and risk-seeking behaviour when you have losses. This means you hold onto your losses and you cut your profits short – the opposite of what you need to do to be successful in the market. This is the common mode that people who enter the market operate from.
- “Someone else makes the rules (my broker, the inter-bank market etc.)” If you think other people make the rules, then you are not going to take the necessary responsibility to make the changes you need to be successful in the market.
- “I have already lost when I trade.” You may be surprised how many people suffer from this belief consciously or not. Many people have self-worth issues that greatly interfere with ability to accept success and find ways to self-sabotage and lose money.
- “Trading is difficult, hard work, and stressful.” It is not so easy to be passionate about something that you don’t enjoy and don’t truly believe you will win.
Can you see why successful traders treat trading as a game?
How can you shift your mindset to adopt this belief?
Here is the beliefs worksheet from the second lesson in the Advanced Forex Course. You can use it to note down beliefs you want to adopt about trading and the beliefs it is going to replace.
About the Author
Sam Eder is a currency trader and author of the Definitive Guide to Developing a Winning Forex Trading System and the Advanced Forex Course for Smart Traders. He is a part owner of Forex Signal Provider fxrenew.com (You can get a free trial). If you like Sam’s writing you can subscribe to his newsletter for free.
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