What makes good trader?

What makes good trader good? This is the question that I’ve asked myself on numerous occasions and so many times I couldn’t come up with an answer.

One could ask what makes good soccer player or good basketball player or, for that matter, what differentiate good participant from bad participant in any performance field?

Traders, who just have started, would probably say that it is good system what makes good trader – Give me the system that makes money and I will make money!

Traders, who are close to mid-point, would probably say that system and discipline are required.

What I’ve concluded after more than five years of trading is the following:

Hard work makes good traders, same as hard work makes good soccer or basketball players. Gary Player, one of the best golfers ever, said: “The more I practice, the luckier I get.” I believe that this simple and effective sentence explains what you need to do in order to succeed in any performance field. 

If you don’t want to learn how market works or what moves market up or down; to learn about discipline, indicators, trending versus range bound markets; to spend many hours watching for different pattern setups; to scan through different time frames and many other things, than you should not pursue trading. Rather find niche in which you will love to spend hours learning and improving. Probably, you will excel much more in what you love, then in something that is hype and what your colleague at work might have told you about.

But, if you want to spend your time immersed in the art and science of trading, then don’t forget one very simple rule: This is marathon run - it is not a sprint race! First two or three years you are going to spend learning and trying to get something out of the market, but most probably you will end up frustrated more often than not. Keep it going and one morning you are going to wake up and complete picture will be there waiting for you. And when it happens, don’t be fooled, that will not be the end of the road and money will not just fall into your lap after every click of the mouse button – On that very same morning, when you realize what you really want from trading and how you want to trade, new and even more exciting stage in your development as trader will commence. During that stage, you will have to keep up with new traders who will rush to market full of ideas, hungry to make money, as they will be very akin to what you were, in days when you were completing your first trading steps.

Path to success in this game is very long and very difficult - When you arrive there, reward is going to be massive!

I'll see you when you get there if you ever get there ...

Trade well!