Being Grateful as Traders

“Education is incredibly important for traders. Traders should look to educate themselves as much as they can along their trading journey.” – James Hughes

In USA, Thanksgiving Day is around the corner. Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. Several other places around the world observe similar celebrations. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and on the second Monday of October in Canada (definition source: Wikipedia.org).  This year, Canada celebrated their Thanksgiving Day on October 13, 2014; the US will celebrate theirs on November 27, 2014.

The essence of this holiday is to give thanks. In trading also there are many things we can give thanks for. We tend to complain and fret over the disadvantages we think we face, without thinking of the advantages we enjoy. When we ponder the blessings we enjoy in our trading career (as well as in life), those seeming disadvantages pale into insignificance. 

During my quite time, many reasons to be thankful as a trader came to my mind. Obviously, traders now enjoy great tools and services that were not available to those who were speculating just a few decades ago. Here are some of the reasons to be thankful. There are many more reasons than these. Could you think of additional reasons?

1.      We’re grateful for the opportunity to trade and invest our money.

2.      We’re grateful for good brokers out there who treat their clients fairly.

3.      We’re grateful for funds managers who help us make profits by managing our funds. We’re grateful for great opportunities like copy trading/social trading, winning signals services, etc. which help us make money.

4.      We’re grateful for regulatory bodies that regulate brokers, financial institutions, etc. They make financial markets safer for us to trade. 

5.      We’re grateful for cutting-edge trading platforms, data feeds and other tools that are available to us.

6.      We’re grateful for free and paid education materials that are available to us. We enjoy trading education through various means, including books, DVDs, trading rooms, webinars, etc.

7.      We’re thankful for many career opportunities that are available in the world of trading.

8.      We’re grateful for winning trading systems and software – manual, semi-automated and automated strategies that are at our disposal. There are many strategies out there that work.

9.      We’re thankful for those analytical tools and indicators that are available to us. These things help us to analyze the markets objectively.

10.  We’re thankful for the fact that trading is a fantastic life-style. We can trade anywhere in the world as long as we have access to a good Internet connection.

11.  We’re thankful that the markets don’t discriminate on the basis of nationality, gender, religion, education background, race, tribe, color, etc. The markets are a level playing ground, offering anyone an equal opportunity to be successful irrespective of the aforementioned factors.

12.  We’re grateful that there are many good trading coaches the world over. They help us master various aspects of trading psychology, risk management, positions sizing, trading systems, chart patterns, trend cycles, etc. These coaches are selfless and altruistic individuals who love to help struggling traders. As for me, when the going was tough and I wanted to quit, I was inspired by successful coaches who made me realize that there are people who’re making consistent profits and that I can be successful too. 

13.  We’re thankful for the riches and financial freedom the markets proffer. Many people have made billions of dollars as traders and some of them are among the richest individuals on this planet. You mayn’t become a billionaire (or even a millionaire), but you can become financially free and live a fulfilled life. I define financial freedom as being able to meet your basic needs and still save money for future use.

14.  We’re grateful for the availability of positive expectancy – which makes us make money regardless of occasional losses. If there were someone who can’t lose in the markets, that person would soon have all the money in the world.   We do the right things to get the right results. The secret to trading success is in controlling your losses and adding to your winners.

15.  We’re grateful that the markets don’t offer short-cuts to lasting success. More haste in trading is equal to less speed. Short-cuts are very dangerous. Those who take short-cuts are trying to dodge realities, but realities will face them eventually.

16.  We’re grateful for the movement and liquidity present in the markets. Super rich individuals don’t seek to double their portfolios overnight. Instead, they seek slow and steady returns (which translate into great wealth over time).  Retracements in the markets can be played by any trader, since they reflect smoothing of positions by large financial establishments. The smoothing of positions by large financial establishments sometimes cause contrarian movements in the markets, which are sometimes called significant rallies or dips.

17.  We’re thankful that we’re free moral agents who can choose what our fate will be. Being active in the markets is a matter of interest and choice. When you’re interested in something, no-one needs to beg you or persuade you constantly before you do it. You’d even be willing to spend your time, resources and energy in order to master what you’re interested in. But if you aren’t interested in something, you won’t do it no matter how much noise is made about it, even if you’re persuaded again and again.

The list can go on… The tools and services we enjoy as traders ought not to be taken for granted. Can you think of any other reasons we should be grateful as traders?

Conclusion: We wish Americans a peaceful, blissful and rewarding Thanksgiving Day celebration. At the same time, we are grateful for wonderful opportunities the markets offer us. Yes, there are many reasons to be grateful as traders. When you taste success in your trading career, you’ll be hooked, and as such, you’d do well to strive for permanent success, not temporary success. May you become a successful trader.

I end this article with the quote below:

“Remember, trading from your highest and best self is all that matters to getting your desired trading results.” – Dr. Woody Johnson

Source: www.tallinex.com

Learn from the Generals of the Markets: Market Generals