Many new traders underestimate how much emotion plays a role in being successful. Ask anyone that’s been trading long enough, and they’ll tell you that controlling your emotions is key to being profitable.
But while many emotions felt as you trade are looked at in a negative light, in this article, we’ll show you four positive emotions you might feel while trading.
Curiosity
The Random Walk theory says that markets move unpredictably and that assets are independent of their historical movement and other asset prices. How are traders profitable, then? Is it pure chance?
As you’re probably aware, no. Patterns in price movements can be exploited based on the probability that price will move in a given direction afterward. Once you realize this, your curiosity spikes. What if you could learn a system that gives you a statistical edge in the markets, enabling you to trade from home?
This question will often lead determined traders down the rabbit hole, testing strategies and systems until they find their answer. This curiosity can be never-ending for some traders and is often very rewarding when things start to click.
Confidence
When you’re sticking to a strategy, constantly improving and actually generating profit, you begin to feel much more confident in general. Remember looking at your first candlestick chart and how on earth you could use this to earn money? Once you look back on these moments as a profitable trader, you develop a belief in yourself.
Not just confidence in your own trades, but confidence in your ability to learn and grow as a human. If you’ve never excelled at anything before but can trade like the best of them, this will show you that you can do anything with the right determination and willingness to improve.
Excitement
Trading might not meet your average person’s definition of excitement, but for some, there’s nothing like it. To many traders, the prospect of waking up and seeing what the markets have in store for them today is motivation to get out of bed in the morning.
This works on both the micro and macro level. It’s exciting to enter a trade and wait for price to move in your predicted direction or to formulate an idea that you know is likely to work.
But it’s also exciting to think about your future as a trader. About developing a strategy that will work over many years in different markets. About becoming financially independent, your own boss, and everything else that comes with being a professional trader.
Overall, being a trader is one of the most exciting and unpredictable jobs out there. Each day holds something completely different in store, with the opportunity to explore hundreds of markets, strategies, pieces of software, theories, analyses etc. in any given week. What other job can say that?
Joy
The result of this excitement is joy when things work out. Of course, you won’t always experience joy, particularly during a losing streak. But it’s immensely gratifying to take trades that move almost exactly as you predicted or to see that you’re doing well over the past month.
But there’s also long-term joy to be had. As mentioned, becoming a trader is something many people try and fail at. A slim minority stick with it to become a professional trader, trading their own account or having others trust them to trade with their money. This is a considerable achievement, and one that leads to long term joy and satisfaction with your own abilities.
All of this said…
While these emotions can make trading a rewarding activity, it’s important to remember that trading fueled by emotion is more akin to gambling than a structured approach to financial markets. When you feel these emotions, try to observe them for what they are and return to a logical state without letting them control you. Enjoy them, and let them pass.
You might feel confident after a few successful trades, for example, but then you become over-confident and start taking greater risks. Or, you let your joy become greed as you seek more euphoria. Try to be aware of these emotions and don’t let them overwhelm your psyche.