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What determines the focus of a Master Trader? As a trader you see signals based on your knowledge of the markets and your experience. This is true for other traders, as well, even if they are supposedly following the same system or methodology.

 

There are systems being taught by major trading schools where all the rules are the same, but the variance in profits ranges from losing money to making huge profits. So, what is the difference if you have the same tools but different outcomes?

 

When we observe athletes like Tiger Woods, who is using a club to hit a ball in a hole, we can sometimes wonder why we cannot have the same outcome. Even if you get instructions from the man himself, it is unlikely that you will have the same results.

 

Recently, I said to a friend, who was enjoying a basketball game, “I wish I could see and experience the game through your senses.” He was clearly enjoying the game more than I was. While I was looking at team uniforms, production of the game itself, fans’ reactions and the psychology of the players reacting to what was happening, he was paying attention to where the ball was and the plays that were being carried out.

 

For me to have the same experience as he had, I would have had to play the game myself, be excited about where the ball was going, and understand the different possibilities of the plays.

 

Why does a beginning trader struggle with top performance focus? They struggle because they do not have the following:

 

• A clearly defined plan that is written down as part of their business Plan

 

• A tested system so that the probabilities of it succeeding are higher (even if someone else has tested it for them)

 

• Resources, such as education in the markets and money management

 

• An internal and external environment that is supportive to good Trading

 

• Good equipment and fast information

 

• The psychological ability to overcome the baggage that keeps them from following their signals

 

What does a master trader focus on?

 

• A Master Trader has the conditioned responses to act automatically when he has predetermined criteria for entering and exiting a trade

 

• He focuses on the positive overall outcome of the combination of decisions he makes over the span of his trading day, week, month, and/or year

 

• He is in a flow with the markets because he is confident that his overall decisions will make him a great deal of money

 

• He has learned all the lessons he needs to learn but allows for new lessons

 

• He can adjust to market changes

 

• He knows that, as he improves himself physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, he will improve not only his technical ability but also his overall profits

 

While a trader must have the resources, a plan, and experience to have the confidence and ability of a Master Trader, he does not have to take the average three years to be profitable that most professional traders take.

 

To be on the fast track it takes making the right choices such as having the ability to follow predetermined rules to be consistent. This takes discipline; and while a trader may have discipline in other aspects of his life, trader discipline means conquering psychological self-sabotage. Just as in golf, the Master Trader focuses on the one ball going in the hole, with the right play and equipment, knowing there will be an overall win because of positive automatic conditioning.

 

By Adrienne Toghraie - Adrienne Toghraie is the founder of Trading on Target and is the author of multiple books on trading and the psychology of trading. She is considered an expert in the financial community for coaching traders, brokers, and investors to their next level of success. This excerpt was taken from The Trading on Target E-Book.