One of the books that helped me become a better trader was Johnnie Johnson's ' Wing Commander ', an account by Britain's top scoring ace of WW2 of his exploits. In the book, he describes the mood in the pilot's mess shortly before a flying sortie against the enemy as being comprised of two types pf pilot - those who nervously checked their entire escape kits were in order - the hunted, and those who calmly walked out to their Spitfires or Hurricanes for a pre-flight check and a chat with their ground crews, leaders and wingmen - the hunters. Invariably, the former did not live long.
I refer to this in this post because I see a great parallel between these fighter pilots of the Second World War and us traders, with the welcome exception that one's life as a trader is not on the line ( I hope! ), only one's trading account. In the five years I've been trading, one of the biggest things I've had to learn is that the forex market is neither a place for inexperience or timidity. If you have the skills to make money in this business, and by that I mean you do actually know what you are doing, then this counts for nothing if you do not combine this with aggression and conviction when the time comes to pull the trigger. Many of the biggest moves happen fast following a pullback or fake to an area or support and resistance, and the experienced trader will recognize this and act with speed and conviction, not with fear of loss or hesitation.
It is my firm belief that one of the reasons so many traders fail to make money, apart from lacking the necessary technical ability, is because life in other areas just does not train people to be risk takers, in fact, life teaches us to be overly cautious from a very young age, a mind-set we bring into trading, but one which ultimately will lead to our downfall as traders. What we have to be able to do is throw a good deal of caution to the wind, and, like the successful fighter pilots of WW2, to fix onto our target and go for it with all guns blazing. This does not guarantee that we won't crash and burn, but it does put the odds of being a winner firmly in our favour.
I refer to this in this post because I see a great parallel between these fighter pilots of the Second World War and us traders, with the welcome exception that one's life as a trader is not on the line ( I hope! ), only one's trading account. In the five years I've been trading, one of the biggest things I've had to learn is that the forex market is neither a place for inexperience or timidity. If you have the skills to make money in this business, and by that I mean you do actually know what you are doing, then this counts for nothing if you do not combine this with aggression and conviction when the time comes to pull the trigger. Many of the biggest moves happen fast following a pullback or fake to an area or support and resistance, and the experienced trader will recognize this and act with speed and conviction, not with fear of loss or hesitation.
It is my firm belief that one of the reasons so many traders fail to make money, apart from lacking the necessary technical ability, is because life in other areas just does not train people to be risk takers, in fact, life teaches us to be overly cautious from a very young age, a mind-set we bring into trading, but one which ultimately will lead to our downfall as traders. What we have to be able to do is throw a good deal of caution to the wind, and, like the successful fighter pilots of WW2, to fix onto our target and go for it with all guns blazing. This does not guarantee that we won't crash and burn, but it does put the odds of being a winner firmly in our favour.