How Professional Traders Handle STRESS
While stress is a necessary force that has helped human beings adapt and survive for thousands of years, it is one of the MOST common emotional problems that traders face, and trading while under stress can have a significant impact on a trader’s profit and loss.
There are many different forms of stress ( i.e. stress caused by trading itself or stress from other areas of our lives spilling over.) We experience the most negative effects from trading stress , when trading and losing becomes personal: about you, rather than about supply and demand. Focus on your goal, not on what might happen or on what has happened in the past.
Here are some tips to try and reduce stress and build a stronger you to survive the rough times.
- Start to form a daily routine- write it out so you remember it easier
- Get up 15 minutes earlier- this will make you less harried in the morning
- Write down your goals and tasks and read them before bed and first thing in the morning
- Prepare for and EXPECT losses- it is a function of trading that you must accept
- Trade much less, analyze more- this will dramatically lower stress, by knowing you are prepared
- Stretch, meditate, breathe deep, go for a run-staying active and fit should be a #1 priority
- Block out time for Family, Friends, and play time with your pets- it’s good for the soul
This may sound like a lot, but if you take the time to go thru the steps and follow your list, you put yourself in the best mental and physical condition to remain stress-free while you navigate in and out of your trades each day.