We see all sorts of advice printed all over the internet about what successful traders do and what new traders do. With there being so many different sources of information it is very easy for some of it to get muddled up and confused with each other, this is just a natural thing to happen. We have seen quotes thrown about from so-called successful and profitable traders that make us think twice, they seem a little out of place. So we have come up with a list of things that you simply won’t hear a successful person saying, if they do, then we would question how successful they are and also their honesty and integrity in what they are saying. So let’s just in and look at some of the things that successful traders simply would not say…
“I never lose!”
If anyone tells you that they never lose, then I would question them as a person. Either they have the perfect strategy, they are incredibly lucky or they are simply outright lying. Losing is a major part of trading, the majority of profitable traders may even lose more taxes than they win, but due to their strategies and plans in place, they are still profitable. There is no holy grail strategy, there is no way to simply win every trade, a good trader will be able to admit that as they are happy with their strategy, they are not there to try and impress others. The markets move up and down, they jump about and they are unpredictable, no one can predict it 100% of the time, if they could they would be the richest person in the world right now. People like to try and exaggerate their success stories, but if you see someone stating that they never lose, they are most likely not that successful, a successful trader will admit their losses and even embrace them.
“You should be trading every day.”
Something that a lot of newer traders are told, you need to practice and trade every day if you want to become successful, at the very beginning this may be the case, there is so much to learn that you simply need to in order to take it all in. As you progress and become more used to the markets and get a better understanding of them, you will soon begin to realise that you do not need to trade quite as much. In fact, you will find yourself taking entire days or even a week away from trading. Certain aspects of your life such as your mental wellbeing need to take priority at times, if you are beginning to get stressed, take a break, you do not need to be there every day. One way that successful traders remain consistent is knowing when to take breaks and knowing that they do not need to take every opportunity that comes up. Patience is another virtue that successful traders use, knowing when to take a trade and knowing when to simply sit back and watch. Not doing anything can sometimes be the better option and a successful trader will not shy away from admitting that.
“I taught myself everything I know.”
The simple response to this is, no you did not, this term basically means that he did not receive any help from anyone else or from any other sauces. This is simply not going to be the case, even the best traders in the world speak to others about their trading in order to ensure they are doing the right things and to get feedback on how they are performing, if someone states that they are not then this is most likely not the case. Many traders go on training courses, join trading communities, or simply speak to others face to face. It is a valuable source of information and feedback and it is something that all successful traders will do. It is near impossible to learn the different strategies and risk management without having some sort of input from the outside world.
“I know everything about trading.”
No, you do not, simple as that. The world of forex and trading is huge, so huge that there are probably things about it that have never actually been written or discovered yet. It is simply not humanly possible to know everything and a successful trader will know this, they will know that you need to be constantly learning. Part of learning to trade is having the understanding that you will be continuing to learn throughout your entire trading career. If someone was to simply state that they know everything, then they are most likely in a position where they do not truly understand how vast the idea of forex and trading is, which in our eyes would make them not quite as much of an expert as they may believe that they are.
“My strategy always works!”
When you first start it you probably created a trading strategy yourself or took an idea from someone else. For many when beginning this is the only strategy that you have. You would have then experienced a market change and this made it so that your strategy was no longer effective within the markets. A successful trader knows that this is the case. Due to this, they understand that the strategy that they are currently using or even their favorite strategy will not work in all market conditions. Instead, a successful trader will have multiple different strategies that they can use depending on the current market conditions. If someone states that their strategy works in all conditions, then they simply have not yet had the markets go against them and their strategy.
“Don’t worry about money management.”
One of the biggest things in trading is your money management, how you will protect your account and your capital. If anyone states that it is not that important then we would discount pretty much everyone else that they say. Money management and risk management is 10% important, it is one of the most important things that you can do, it is there to protect you and can prevent you from losing your account. Any and all successful traders are most likely successful because they have a good plan in place to protect them from their losses.
“Doubling down is good.”
When a trade is going the right way, a lot of traders would add to that trade which is fine as this increases profits, however, when a trade is going the wrong way, why would you want to add to the losing position? The sad thing is that there are actually a lot of different strategies that use this method, most popular is the grid or martingale strategies, both of which can very easily blow your account. A successful trader will not be using these strategies and they certainly won’t be adding to their losing positions, so if you see someone doing this, they are actually playing a very risky game, not something a consistently successful trader would do.
So those are a few of the things that you just won’t hear a successful trader say. Normally those saying them are people who are trying to exaggerate their success or their abilities, a successful trader won’t need to do this as their results will speak for themselves, so if you see people making comments like this, do not take their word for granted, they may be trying to pull your leg.
