Characteristics of Successful Traders – Week 60
We’re getting into a new series with our 4-Minute Drill videos. This week, I focus on the characteristics of a successful trader and I discuss the first characteristic, which is being goal oriented. I’ll go into the specifics of what being goal oriented means to a trader.
Are you a goal oriented trader? We want to hear your thoughts… leave a comment below!
Hi, Norman Hallett here with your next 4 Minute Drill for Traders.
Having managed successful brokers in the 80s and 90s and having
taught individual traders over the last decade …
I’ve observed a few common Characteristics of Successful Traders.
… so let me give you my take on this.
But first let me say that many traders take actions that aren’t in their best self-interest. They make irrational trades… they make trades based on emotion, rather than logic…
…they hold on to losing positions due to their unwillingness to admit they made a bad trade.
… they trade based on greed or panic… the list is endless.
Successful traders, on the other hand, all have a few things in common… and developing these characteristics and habits will help make YOU a successful trader.
OK…OBSERVATION #1 … Successful Traders Set Goals.
Successful traders tend to be incredibly goal-oriented. Why?
Most people perform at their best when they are reaching for a CLEAR goal… and there are 3 basic qualities that make up a clear goal…
(1) The goal must be realistic. If you’re goal is to double your money every day… well, that sounds great, but it’s not realistic. BE REALISTIC.
(2) The goal must be attainable. Just like with a realistic goal, an attainable goal must be within your current capabilities.
The BEST goals are short-term goals.. make your first goal a small one… and then continue to increase your goals as you experience success.
World-class sprinters don’t start by thinking of winning the Olympics. They win locally, then regionally, and take on bigger challenges as they go.
(3) The goal must be measurable. Goals that AREN’T precise, and can’t be quantified or measured, aren’t really goals at all.
If your goal is to be wealthy, that’s great.. but what does “Wealthy” mean?
My guess is that your definition of wealth will change as your net worth increases.
If you can’t define your goal, and measure your progress toward it, then you have no way of assessing your progress or of making changes to your techniques and strategies that ALLOW YOU to reach your goal.
Successful traders set goals, and they also are confident they can reach their goals.
CONFIDENCE is the key to staying rational, logical, and disciplined.
Starting with small, realistic goals will help build your confidence in yourself and your abilities.
OK.. that’s it for this edition of 4 Minute Drill for Traders.
Next week we’ll continue go through some more characteristics of the Successful Trader.
In the meantime, why not use the comment area to share a little bit about YOUR current goals as a trader… and remember… BE SPECIFIC.
So…. Until next time…
Stay Disciplined!
Category: 4-Minute Drill for Traders
i am a Forex day trader, at the end of every trading day i calculate the difference between my daily net profit/loss and my trading system net profit/loss, my goal is to catch 99% of the amount of pips that my trading system is offering on a daily basis, only about half of the time i hit that number and some times the correlation between what i am making and what the system offing is completely negative, i find it very hard to keep up hitting this target
Hi there! Someone in my Myspace group shared this website with us so I came to give it a look.
I’m definitely enjoying the information. I’m bookmarking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Terrific blog and wonderful style and design.
Good morning Norman,
First of all I would like to thank you very much for all your and your wife’s fantastic support of us, small traders, with limited capital. Since I started listening to your drills I feel confident, relaxed and successful. My bottom line is growing and growing. But the most important is my confidence.
I am using the very basic method of MACD and EMAs and make money. So this is true that you need a method but trading is mostly working on YOURSELF.
My 2 large goals are:
1. Me and my husband quitting jobs
2. Reach my financial goal of $2,000,000 which I consider my required Net Worth ( beside real estate ) to stop worrying about the money
My small goal number 1 is to keep improving my risk and money management methods and my goal number 2 is to slowly increasing my positions from 2 contracts I’m trading now to 30 contracts per trade.
Goal #3 is to observe behavior of the price of my commodities of choice and try to apply “past into future”.
Will there be bumps? You bet. But I am confident that I am on a right track.
All the best wishes to you and yours.
Keep up the fantastic job of helping us.
Malgosia
This is another variation of the AIM-SMART system of taking measurable steps towards obtaining a goal. The keys to success is making the goal measurable, realistic and taking very small steps that are actually doable. Keep up the good advice!
Hi Norm
as a new member I am really enjoying the positive attitude you exude.
I’m a relatively new options trader with increasing success but it is easy to slip away from the basics. your reinforcement of the basic fundamentals has re- energized my commitment to consistency.
my goal is to achieve 7% of my trading account in profit per month
thanks Norm , its a great service wishing to help your fellow traders keep it up !
Thanks Norman – your four minute drills are always spot on !!
Maybe the best 4 minute drill I’ve listened to. Thanks for all your tips. My goal is to not make any “bad” trades (outside my defined parameters) for the week.
Hi Norm,
Thanks for the weekly 4-minute trader drills. I really look forward to them each week to enhance my mental discipline, and that mental discipline is the key to success in our business, a point that you have made so clear. I work on disciplinary exercise daily and define my specific goal as executing 90% of my given trade entry-opportunities in a daily trade session. I don’t use a dollar sign or value to distinguish a goal but rather a percent of available opportunity in a trading period. I understand, if I am using good risk to reward practices, and objectively adhere to my pre-determined trade plan, that statistically the value will be there at the end of the week. I quantify that statistic at the end of the trading week as part of my trading discipline.
Thanks for all you help,
Jay
Great advice! I’m a forex day trader, trading the London and NY opening sessions, and my goal is 90 pips per day over 5 currencies or an average of 18 pips per day per currency. I take what the market gives me and that is the average available pips for my particular system.
Hey Norm – I agree with you that goal setting is very important. I’ve been swing trading for a little over three (3) years and have yet to make money consistently with it (although I’m certainly making progress). My first goal is to make a consistent profit each month (I’ll use a small number…let’s say $100 per month), as this will show consistent profitability. My second goal is to make enough income with my trading to replace my job income. I’m confident that these goals will be hit in time. Thanks for your inspirational 4-minute drills!
Thanks Norman – as usual some really good information and my goal is to make 24 points per week with my trading. I have made my goal three weeks out of the last four and I am planning to make it four out of four in the month ahead.
SO WHAT HAPPENED TO TAKE WHAT THE MARKET GIVES YOU!!!!!!!!