There are number of important factors that go into making you a Forex trading success. Some of these factors include such things as a reliable Forex trading system, adequate working capital, etc.
While all of the factors mentioned above are important, I find that the importance of patience cannot be overemphasized. Why is that, you ask? If I had immediately answered that off the top of my head I would simply look at the facts. The facts show that all successful Forex traders have the patience to do what is necessary when it is necessary. Patience is a necessary part of the all important “trading discipline”.
One of the first concepts it is important for beginning Forex traders to wrap their heads around is that successful Forex trading is more like a marathon than a sprint. Regardless of the timeframe that you trade in, having a long-term outlook can help you be more successful.
So let’s look at an example of how patience may come into play in your everyday Forex trading.
When you first open your live trading account — This is a critical time for beginning Forex traders. Often times the anticipation of placing your very first trade can get the best of you. The last thing you want to do is to jump the gun and place a trade that your trading system does not dictate. In this scenario you simply have to have the patience or make yourself have the patience to wait until your trading system tells you to take action.
When your first few trades are losing trades — If your first few trades are losers, please keep in mind that this is not the end of the world by any stretch of the imagination. This simply means that your trading system did not trade profitably in that particular set of market conditions. For some, there’ll be an overwhelming desire to “do something” so that they can get their account back up to the amount of their original deposit. If you happen to feel this way don’t beat yourself up about it. It is very common amongst beginning traders. This is a time when you need to have faith in your trading system and understand that a good trading system will recover and move to higher equity.
When you are in a big drawdown — Being a larger drawdown is one of the toughest situations that the trader can face. More experienced traders realize that drawdowns are a natural part of trading. Beginning traders get more nervous and their lack of experience has yet to teach them what to expect. Don’t get me wrong, when I’m in a large drawdown I don’t jump up and down because I think drawdowns are a great thing. I do, however, understand that my trading system will recover from the drawdown and eventually move on to new equity highs. Having patience will allow you to ride out these inevitable pullbacks in your account equity. Not having patience can cause you to stop trading your successful Forex trading system and throw in the towel just before your equity would have skyrocketed.
As you can see, patience is of paramount importance in successful trading. As you gain experience in your trading you will also gain confidence and as a result of that you will be more patient as well. Simply keep in mind that successful trading is more like a marathon than a sprint and understand that you are in the Forex market for long-term success.
