Trading is difficult. It takes a long time to hone into a particular strategy that works well for you and to find what times and pairs work best for that strategy. With all the difficulties that can come about in trading and the frustrations that come from the losses, every great trader has had their losses. If you watch the Trader on the Street and Apiary Fund trading sessions with Shawn Lucas, there will be times it's a losing session. And while Shawn’s loss may be few in far between compared to the wins, they still happen. It's a process of getting to the point where your trading days are far more successful than negative. But one important thing is to never give up.
With trading being a high-risk venture that some choose to take, there are bound to be negative reviews by certain individuals. Aside from the risk of trading, certain brokers and companies that individuals trade with cause negative experiences that set a stigma for trading. This is the reason that many individuals don’t start trading. They hear stories of losses and of companies having bad practices so they decide not to trade. However, this can be said about anything. If someone started bagging on your favorite restaurant, would that change your mindset about the restaurant altogether?
At the beginning of your trading journey, you can expect a lot of mixed emotions. One of my favorite things to do when you want to get a good read on what a first time trader will be genuinely experiencing, is watching some of the Trader on The Street videos. I love being able to watch them because these are unsuspecting people of what they will find in the markets. They're people just like you that have never done this before. When Apiary Funds head trader, Shawn Lucas sits down and shows them how much money they can make with the right education and experience Apiary Fund can provide for you. They have a genuine astonishment at the money they made right before their eyes. If you want to be truly profitable, you need to be willing to invest in your education first and foremost.
“You have the power to decide how you will respond to uncertainty.” -Yvan Byeajee
Skepticism is a big part of any new venture one decides to take. It’s also one of the biggest hurdles one faces when deciding whether to become involved with a certain educator, employer, or path one takes. But if skepticisms stopped people 100% of the time, then the world would be a totally different place. All the big companies we see today wouldn’t exist. Our favorite movies or books wouldn’t be there for us to enjoy, all because of the slight doubts the writers face when thinking, “Will this make it?” Trading is no different for many people. That brief doubt you encounter when thinking about trying it or that bad experience your friend’s neighbor faced a few years back. Thankfully, with trading, and some other like ventures, you can try it out before you pay. There are companies like Apiary Fund and Trader on the Street that allow individuals to watch and/or try before any risk is taken upon by them to see if it will work.
Winston Churchill once said, "Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." Trading is no different than success with these words in mind. Any great trader or person striving for success in any field needs to be prepared for loss before growth. Traders like Shawn Lucas, Warren Buffet, George Soros, and many more started off trading with losses, not immediate wins, and that’s one of the most important things to remember when starting to trade.
It is an exciting feeling when you start trading. A lot of traders are filled with an internal desire to find some secret, big or small, that will give them the perfect edge in the markets, allowing them to fulfill their fiscal dreams. It is easy to get too focused on this quest of becoming the perfect trader; which is why caution is needed. The drive for perfection can create a disconnect between a trader and the markets, resulting in fear, frustration, and possibly even financial difficulties in their trading journey.
A lot of traders have asked, "does my personality affect my investing skills?" The answer is yes! Your personality should affect the basic building blocks of your investing strategy.
A fear that goes hand in hand with a fear of loss when trading is a fear of failure.
A 2014 study conducted by Babson College revealed how fear of failure stops some people from engaging in activities where failure is a possible outcome – including the activity of learning. The study concluded that the fear of failure negatively influences a person’s motivation to learn and their attitude toward learning.
One comment we hear a lot as traders is, "Oh, you trade Forex? Isn't that risky?" Unlike a fear of snakes or spiders, most of the fear people feel concerning the Forex markets stems from either a lack of information or a misunderstanding; however, instead of exercising a fear of risk you can try exercising risk as a tool to help you in your trading.