Practising Trading

“Have success and there will always be fools to say that you have talent.”

To become successful within #trading we need to #practise, practise and practise.  This applies to anything that we want to be successful at in life.

To become good at trading we need to study the theory behind trading and to put the theory into practise, too many potential traders feel they are ‘intelligent’ so they can just read a few books on trading and then they would be at good at trading.  We wouldn't read a few books on driving and then jump into a car and consider ourselves drivers,  so why when it comes to trading many people have this belief?  Becoming a successful trader is not easy but it also is not impossible if we continue to learn and practise.

Some traders discourage trading on demo accounts as a person doesn’t feel the same emotions when trading a live account, and so their results on a demo account will usually be different from those of a live account.  

While this is very true (human emotions can play a big part in trading), we shouldn't deny the benefits that practising on demo accounts can bring.  When we practise in a low risk environment we should be looking to develop good habits so certain things will become second nature, such as: identifying exit points and correct position sizing. 

Why do athletes practise almost every day and repeatedly work on the basics?  Why do soldiers carry out military drills?  It’s to reinforce their skills so they do certain actions and thinking naturally.  To outsiders it will appear they don’t need to try hard to execute their desired actions, but the hard work and preparation has been done beforehand.

So don’t jump straight in the deep end when you trade, practise on demo accounts then move on to live accounts using small position sizes.  Also if you are a seasoned trader and have developed another trading strategy, first test on demo accounts as well, this could help you identify issues with your new strategy without risking real money.

Trading is a skill, so go out there and sharpen your skills.  Remember “practise makes perfect” as they say.

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