In our previous article, we described how being emotional is not conducive to good trading.
In this article, we’re going to explain why trying to motivate yourself is not conducive to anything. In fact being motivated is a load of rubbish.
Motivation goes hand in hand with emotion. You have to try to put yourself in the correct state of mind to do your essay, to go to the gym, to write that blog post. It’s the idea that we should only do something because we ‘feel’ like doing it. In trading, feelings aren’t worth a penny. Motivation has peaks and troughs or emotional variance. It’s like when you watch motivational speakers such as Tony Robbins and you’re on a high for a day after and you’re doing all the right progressive things, but then by 3 days later you’re back to how you were feeling before and seeking more motivation. It’s tiring, dull and depressing.
On the other hand, we have discipline. Discipline is key to progressing and ensuring that you are making the most of your days. In the context of trading, this is ensuring that you are up everyday at 6am, you have lunch at 12pm, you review your day at 7pm and you plan for the next at 8pm. Being regimented and making sure that you have ingrained into you that you know what you’re doing at each hour makes life so much easier.
You don’t have to plan anything fancy, but for the next 4 weeks, try and do the same things at the same time each day with your trading. If you work, only check the markets before work, at lunch and then when you get home at set times. Push yourself to do an hour of chart work at 8pm each night. Getting into habits is easier than getting out of them, and with FX trading, forming good habits is absolutely key.