What Makes a Great Trader Part I

With summer ending and trading volume expected to rise, it might be a good time to give yourself a mental break and reflect on your trading before the fall.  Are you the great options trader you thought you would be by now or have you ever wondered what  truly makes a great options trader? I mean not a options trader that does pretty well, but one that you envy and want to be? Are great options traders just born that way? Does being smarter necessarily give you an advantage in options trading? Is studying charts until you are bleary-eyed from looking at them the secret; or is it just dumb luck on who succeeds and who fails? 

The qualities that you will need to succeed in my opinion are a commitment to success, having a options trading plan and the most important, mastering your emotions-or the psychology of options trading. I believe that options trading is the hardest job in the world (quite possibly the best, but the hardest). That's why it will probably take you a lot longer than you think before you really get a solid grip on it.

So let's first talk about your commitment to success. This essentially sounds like the easiest of the three qualities to master doesn't it? Why does anyone want to become a options trader in the first place? Probably, because they want to become wealthy and very successful. Who isn't committed to that, right? All you need is some money, charts, and a platform and you are on your way. Almost everyone says they are committed but most people are not because when they find out options trading is work-and it is. They tend to lose their focus and their original goals when the going gets though.

If you are committed to success then you must be committed to reaching your goals. The most important part of having goals is to write them down. If you never write them down they are simply just dreams. We don't want to dream we are a great trader we want to realize that we are! Only about 2% of Americans write down their goals. Is it really shocking to know that most people never achieve what they want out of life? As "corny" as it may seem, when you write something down no matter what, your thoughts are transformed from the subconscious to the conscious and are now tangible. Your goals have become something you can see and say out loud. If you never write them down they never exist outside of your thoughts.

Let me leave you with this before I end this introduction on how we are going to build a great options trader out of you. I think everyone can agree whether you are a beginning options trader or a more experienced options trader that there are several key components you will need to do to become a standout. Having said this I also know that most of you will not be committed to do this at first. I know I wasn't. I thought to myself I am too smart and I know how to options trade. I knew it would not be easy but I was unprepared for the results that followed. I'll give you a hint, they weren't good. After I decided to fully commit myself and write down my goals did my results finally change. Let's face it; options trading is a realm like no other. Options trading looks easy and which in turn makes you lazy to work at it. Be committed to your success and write down your goals right from the start will only help you achieve the success you are after that much quicker.

 

 This article is proposed by John Kmiecik - (Senior Options Instructor) at Market Taker Mentoring