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Psychology

The hardest market to read is you

Rules only work if you follow them under pressure. Here is what we teach about discipline and the habits that support it.

Discipline beats conviction

Feeling sure about a trade tells you about your mood, not the market. Discipline means following the same process whether you feel confident or nervous, and however your last trade went.

Why journaling matters

Memory protects your ego. We tend to remember our wins and explain away our losses. A journal records what you actually did and how you felt, so your next decision is based on evidence.

The risk of revenge trading

After a loss, the urge to win it back straight away can be strong. Revenge trades tend to be bigger and less planned, so one loss can turn into a bad day. Set a cooling-off rule before you need it.

Sleep

Tired people take more risks and make poorer decisions. If watching a chart is costing you sleep, your trading plan needs to change. Don’t place trades at hours when you should be in bed.

Routine

A simple routine makes good decisions easier: read your plan, check the calendar, trade your hours, write your journal, then shut the platform. Routine leaves less room for impulse.

Screen time

Watching every tick can feel productive, but it usually makes you more likely to interfere with your trades. Set alerts, step away and give time to the people and activities outside trading.

Face Yourself: the Litmus Test

Twelve honest questions about how you really trade. It takes about five minutes, and your answers stay in your browser: we do not save them. If you have not traded live, answer for your paper trading, or for how you handle similar pressure elsewhere.

1. I move or remove my stop once a trade goes against me.
2. After a loss, I enter another trade quickly to win the money back.
3. I trade a bigger size than my plan allows because I feel sure about a setup.
4. I take trades that are not in my written plan.
5. I skip writing a trade in my journal, especially the bad ones.
6. I trade with money I need for bills, rent or family.
7. I chase a move because I am afraid of missing it.
8. I lose sleep to watch charts or check open positions.
9. A trading result changes my mood with the people around me.
10. I hide or play down my losses when I talk about trading.
11. I feel tempted to go live before I have shown I can follow my rules on demo.
12. I keep trading when I am tired, angry or upset instead of stepping away.
0 of 12 answered

Prefer paper? The printable version is in our .