It’s very important to “practice the way you want to play” meaning that unless you are approaching your practice sessions to establish the patterns of behaviour you will be using live then they’re not going to be nearly as beneficial. If you’re doing something in demo that you wouldn’t do live (like revenge trading, increasing size after losses, etc) then you’re not getting the most out of your time spent. It’s tough to break those patterns but it gets easier when you ask yourself what outcome you most want to achieve in the end. Glad you enjoyed the article and hopefully I’ll get some more out soon!

Hi Joe. Glad to see that you’re already interested in trader psychology at this early stage in your development. A lot of people neglect this stuff when they first look at getting into trading and just focus on systems, hot tips, or indicators, but the topic of psychology and how we adapt mentally to the markets is absolutely crucial to achieving consistent profitability. If you haven’t already read them I would recommend checking out Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas and some of the works of Dr. Brett Steenbarger. They do a great job of covering many of the important points so you have the right mindset as you take the first steps in your trading journey. Best of luck to you!

Glad you liked it, Chris. I’ve got a few more trader psychology articles in the works so keep an eye out for those in the weeks ahead.

Thanks for the comment! Impatience happens to us all, Greg. It’s just one of those things about trading that’s always going to be a bit of an internal battle but it gets easier with experience and with an understanding of your edge built over time. Once you know how your edge is going to play out over 20, 30, or hundreds of trades it becomes a lot easier to just wait for the stuff that fits your plan rather than trading for the sake of trading. In my own experience and from working with others I can say that a little bit of extra discipline and patience is usually the difference between hovering around break-even and moving into the realm of consistent profitability.