I come across many people daily who are interested in trading or who already trade and I get asked a lot of the time the following question:

What skills do you need to become consistent in currency trading?

There may be different answers to that question and I myself defend that, in currency trading, there is no one way covers everything. Trading is about developing your own self and find what works for you and what makes you feel comfortable.

How can you place a £500K order in the market if you are not comfortable with your strategy for example? Just think about that for a minute.

There is that cliché phrase: “95% of people actually lose money in trading.” Well, at least I know where the Pips I get out of the market come from. If that is the case then all I have to do is do the complete opposite of what everyone else is doing, isn’t it right? Yes, that is completely right. But what is it everyone else is doing?

They are trading all the time. Dozens of trades daily thinking that the more they trade, the more the chances they will make money. Overtrading! I am sorry folks! That is wrong! The more trades you enter, the more you risk yourself on the market environment.

So back to that question: What skill would you need to become a consistent trader?

My preferred answer to this is that you have to learn the art of “not trading.” Learn the art of being PATIENT. Now that is a hard skill to master especially in this current world where everything moves fast. People get into a lift and keep pressing the button under the idea that the lift is going to close the doors faster if they keep pressing that button. They do it unconsciously. Don’t laugh because I know you have done that too. That’s lack of patience, It is not your fault. You were brought up that way. My job here is to open your mind.

As we like to say in trading, to be consistent, you will need to learn to sit on your hands or sit on the sideline. The sideline has the best seat in the arena. That is the place where you want to be when currency trading. Looking at hundreds of different markets and loads of different timeframes will just harm your account balance or even blow your account.

As a trader, you will sooner or later understand that there will be days and sometimes even weeks in which your edge is not present and therefore you do not place any trades. It is not you, It is not the markets. There is nothing wrong, not trading is trading. Accept that once for all if you want to be consistent. Learn to be patient and wait for your edge to appear so you can act on it according to your plan.

You have to think long-term

Trading is a process. You can’t set a date for you to learn that process and that is mainly because it has no end. It is different than anything you have ever learned in your life. Once you chose this career, you embark on a never-ending journey of discovering yourself. So, with that in mind, you are better not hurry the process. You will need to develop that patience “skill” if want to make it in Currency Trading.

I can’t repeat that enough. Everyone wants to get the success today. Now! I want to share here a bit of my own experience on that. Let me tell you straight away that I am a very patient person. Always have been. I can’t lie that this helped me a lot. However, I will not pretend here that I didn’t go through the same stages everyone else who achieved consistency went through.

The day I accepted that I could not short cut the process and I should see it as long road which I would have to walk up to end no matter what obstacles I could potentially find on the way, was the day that I made it. I accepted myself in trading. My mind became free. No judgements! No fears! Suddenly I could see the Matrix. I learned to flow with the market. That said, when the market is not flowing, I am not flowing with it. I patiently wait for it to flow again.

There is a statement I like to share with the clients I mentor. “The mind that analyses the charts and places orders is different than the mind which is seeing the same chart when the price is getting close to your entry.”

Understand the market will not move just because you are in a position

I have so far talked about being patient before entering a trade. Another aspect of being patient is actually giving time to your position to develop. Some people will get into a trade and expect that the market will just start moving as they are now buying or selling. Just stop everything you are doing and look at your screen. The tics keep moving up and down. The market can careless if you are buying or selling and from whatever price. Remember that flow I told you? That’s it! The market flows with you in it or without you in it. So, if you placed your risk on a trade, your job is done. You surrender it to the market and be patient enough to let it develop.

Summarising

And to conclude, a lot in trading is about psychology, what makes patience a great virtue for traders. Showing patience when entering a trade and having patience while a trade develops is essential to successful trading and investing.

The Platinum Way

At Platinum Trading Academy, we educate our members the Institutional Way.The mindset of an Institutional trader is different: “Plan Your Trades and Trade Your Plan”.

It is important for a trader to be able to read a chart and have access to the right fx trading platform. Setting Currency Trading rules, building a trading plan and sticking to the plan are steps that can help a trader overcome emotions.

The mindset of a successful trader is this educated, disciplined and emotionless mindset which is crucial to long-term profitability and consistency.

Few of the sentences that Platinum mentors use repeatedly are:

• Know your own risk.
• If you made very good profits today, spend quality time with the family and forget about trading more for the day.
• If you suffered loss, take a break, revisit the currency trading plan and commence work the next day.
• Enjoy the excitement of work tomorrow.
• Be ready to deal with the consequences of pulling the trigger for a trade.
• Be patient and take action at the right time.

Our aim is to help you succeed and achieve your goals, whether your aim is to become a full-time trader, to earn a secondary income, to boost your retirement fund or to achieve full financial freedom.Please get in touch with one our mentors and let us help you become a consistently profitable trader.