Staying consistent in trading is an important aspect to trading. Its easy to make money but keeping it may be another story. Here are some easy tricks you can use to become a consistent trader:
- Having a game plan
Having a detailed plan of attack or game plan will give you the necessary framework to stay on course. There are certain things that you can control and things you cannot control. The market is one thing you cannot control. Following a simple method of analysis is one way to stay in control, do not try to over complicate things.
- Stay consistent when executing trades
There are many ways to execute opportunities when trading, whether you follow one strategy or many, does not really matter if you are making money and being consistent. If its working for you and you are seeing consistent profits then do not change it, but if you are making more of a loss then its time to change your game plan. There needs to be consistency when trading.
- Risk management
This is where many traders fail, they do not understand risk management. Your risk management needs to be consistent if you wish to be consistent with your trades. Trading is about probabilities (win percentage (hit rate) multiplied by the risk to reward ratio). Each of us have different levels of risk that we will take, and this will make the risk-per-trade amount different between each of us. Let me explain, if you make 3% one trade, lose 6% on the next and then makes 2% on the next, this is an uneven result. Even though 2 out of 3 trades were successful your account is still in a negative of 1%. Risk/reward targets need to be consistent.
- Trading diary
This is one skill that shows up in almost all my newsletters only because it is such a great skill to have. This can be kept daily or weekly, you do not need to make this a whole essay. This is a great way to keep track of your trades (successful and unsuccessful) and factors that influence your decision making. You can review your trades periodically and can see if you are sticking to your game plan. If you would like a trading diary templet, please feel free to message me and I will happily send you one.
I hope that these will help you become a consistent trader or at least help to keep you consistent. You don’t need to over complicate things – sometimes keeping it simple is the best.
Ryan Mowatt, The Performance Coach