Stress and pressure is an unfortunate part of trading, and it is one of those things that is inevitable and impossible to avoid completely. It can be caused by a number of different things from your own trading decisions to things that are completely out of your control such as unannounced news conferences or natural disasters. There will always be pressures, what is important is that you develop and understand different ways that you can cope with that pressure or ways that you can help to alleviate it.
Step away: This method may seem a little obvious, but you would be surprised how many people actually struggle to do it, many people when under pressure will actually start to spend more time at the computer or trying to work out where things may have gone wrong. Instead of doing that, take a step back, close down your platform, and walk away. You need to be able to clear your mind, coming back with a clear and fresh mind will enable you to look at things from a different light and it may well make things easier for you to work through whatever was causing the stress.
Accept that you aren’t perfect: No one is perfect, so there is no point trying to be or convincing yourself that you need to be. Instead, you need to accept that you will make mistakes, and you will have losses every now and then. Being able to do this will stop yourself from being so hard on yourself and trying to push yourself too hard to be perfect and to never make mistakes, accept what you will and it will be far easier to move on from any that occur. If you feel that you may be pushing yourself too hard, or that you are doing too much, tell yourself to stop, move away, and then come back.
Create a plan: Sometimes stress can come from the unknown, if you do not have a plan set up for what you will be doing or how you will be making your trades it can be incredibly stressful. Creating a plan enables you to understand exactly what you need to do, it will also help you get a better understanding that losses will happen and may well help you get past those losses and to not blame yourself for them.
Do not compare yourself to others: Many people, especially when starting out, will have someone that they look up to and someone that they may wish to imitate, while it is great to have something to aim for, it is not healthy to constantly compare yourself to them. There are many different things that could be different when you compare their circumstances, such as account balances, experience, and so many other things, so concentrate on your own abilities and the trading plan that you have created for yourself instead of putting yourself under pressure to be like someone else.
Getting through a period of increased pressure can be a fantastic feeling, it will give you energy, it will help you push further and ultimately you will feel good about yourself, however, it would always be beneficial to try and avoid those situations entirely, so do what you can to reduce the occurrences, but if you do get into a period of stress, be sure that you are aware of the ways to get back out of it, you will feel a lot better for it.