A Commitment to Online Trading Success Often Means a Commitment to Changing

Change is not an easy factor of life no matter how we apply it. When we are forced to change, or opt to change, we often end up feeling as though we were not successful due to some personal flaw or a personality quirk. Changing is nothing more complicated than looking at our mistakes and adjusting our behavior accordingly. It doesn't have to be a personal defeat when change is necessary to succeed.

Everyone grows and changes at their own pace and everyone recognizes the need for change at their own pace. Because the changes in response to other people's mistakes are so much easier to see than those that directly apply to us, we often can't find the "right way to change" our own trading behavior. Sometimes breaking it down into smaller, more manageable steps makes growing and changing our trading behavior easier and more possible.

The pre-contemplation stage is the period of time when we believe that everything is going well enough for our satisfaction. Our trades are looking good, we are feeling confident, and in some ways, we feel as though we are riding with the wind at our back. In this stage, while there doesn't seem to be any pertinent reason to contemplate changing our trading behavior, we also know that it doesn't last forever.

When we hit the contemplation stage, we have begun to realize that while we are either doing well, doing poorly, doing adequately, or setting the world on fire, we also realize that we have some trading behaviors that either aren't working well for us or could be working better for us if we started thinking about what changes we could make that would enable growth patterns that would most likely lead us to better profits.

The preparation stage is rather self explanatory. It means that we are preparing to make changes, whether small or drastic, in our trading behavior. This often entails such venues as making lists, detailing how our decisions have impacted out trading days, how different decisions could have impacted them for the better or worse, and what habits we have established that are not in our best interest.

This is also a time when we start looking for venues to growth, like reading new books and talking to other traders about their strategies and habits. Because committing to make strong and even vital changes, no matter how large or small, many of us stay in the preparation stage for a very long time. We need to feel comfortable enough with the direction our changes are heading in order to begin addressing how we are going to start our growth process.

The most definitive and noticeable stage is the action stage. This is the time when we implement new changes and force ourselves out of our comfort zone in order to facilitate growth. In many cases, while we are trying out new trading behaviors and are intentionally developing new trading habits, we are also fluctuating between how we feel about our new growth.

In some cases, it won't look like it is working out well or it doesn't feel right and we return to our old habits and patterns of behavior while we figure out different changes to implement. This is perfectly normal and it doesn't mean that you are failing to grow, it just means that something felt "off" and thus we need to re-evaluate the decisions that we have made thus far.

The market changes all the time. An inflexible trader who is unwilling or unable to experience change in order to grow as a trader isn't likely to develop strong trading skills. Every time you grow into a new trading behavior, you are establishing yet another venue available to you as market conditions change. Perhaps a trading habit that you changed two years ago will suddenly become profitable

Without the input of others, it can be difficult to keep tabs on oneself and to recognize where and when changing and growing are appropriate, with the exception of a significant loss. Being self aware, keeping track via journals and logs, and learning to talk to those around you about the risks you are taking or not taking can really help you keep your eyes peeled on your habits as they set in.

There is no such thing as a "super trader." Everyone who has made it to the top of their game did so with input from others, lessons learned through loss, and a lot of sweaty, sleepless nights. Learning how to keep track of yourself is by far one of the most valuable trading commodities you can give to yourself.

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