How to stay motivated in forex trading

Maintaining motivation during the trading day can be a real challenge, not only for beginning traders. With motivation, it's often like on a roller coaster, when everything goes according to plan, then motivation is usually not a problem, but once it all starts to go downhill it might get increasingly difficult to keep one's chin up.
 

So how does one maintain a healthy motivation and prevent many unnecessary mistakes from happening?
 

• No more comparing yourself to others
• Setting realistic expectations
• Regular trading breaks
• Memories of success
• After successful sessions, a reward must come

 

During what times is it difficult to maintain sufficient motivation?

It can be very difficult for many traders to maintain adequate motivation in difficult trading situations. All the more so when there is a period of losses that can unsettle even the most seasoned of traders. Another factor that can demotivate is unfulfilled or unrealistic expectations. For example, in this case, it may be an expectation of profits that will not materialize later.

 

How to keep yourself motivated?

Not comparing yourself to others

Comparing with others is a traditional way for people to evaluate their success. In trading, however, this evaluation is not important at all. Quite the contrary! Traders can only lose valuable time and also motivation when they find that they are not as successful as others. You need to stop comparing yourself to others but rather compare your present yourself with that from the past.

 

Setting realistic expectations

All expectations should always be set in such a way that their realization is highly probable. This means that, for example, if we trade forex, which usually has an intraday exchange rate change of one percent, then it is very unlikely that a change of, for example, 30% could occur in the near future. That’s why it would be a big mistake to want to place take-profit for this value.
 

Regular breaks

Mental stress together with the number of emotions that appear during the everyday trading routine is another factor that can have a significantly negative effect on our motivation. It is therefore important to take regular breaks. These can help to replenish the trader’s energy as well as the motivation that serves as an engine, propelling the trader towards additional trades. If done right, regular breaks can help you to trade continuously without doing unnecessary mistakes. That’s because mistakes often happen not only from demotivation but also from inattention caused by fatigue.

 

Remembering successful trades

Despite trying very hard at certain moments, sometimes we start to make mistakes nevertheless. As soon as this happens, our motivation usually also flies out of the window. In such moments, it is good to reminisce about the successes we have achieved in the past, which helps to organize our thoughts and gain new motivation for the next "round".

 

After a successful trading session, a reward must come

After a job well done, a reward must come! A common mistake is that traders are so obsessed with trading that they slowly forget to relax after work and reap the rewards of their trading results. This is extremely important for gaining new motivation, as the trader has the opportunity to gain new memories thanks to the money earned and to motivate himself for further possible future successes.