Overtrading is Recipe for Failure

Being a professional trader requires a great deal of energy. Like all professionals, there will be times when you are expected to perform at a high level when you feel less than at the peak of your powers. Psychological and physiological effects of family crises and personal health problems, for example, can trigger fatigue and cloud your judgment. However, the most common cause of fatigue or burnout is overtrading.

If you are looking at one-minute charts, you are automatically guilty of overtrading. I don’t know one successful trader that can maintain this type energy level with any consistency. Staring into your monitor with extreme intensity on a moment to moment basis will make you lose your mind and ultimately limit your ability to think rationally. Your energy level must be kept near peak levels, both physically and mentally. Good diet, exercise and even meditation go a long way to increasing your profit and loss statement in a positive direction. I have learned over the years that each individual trader needs to figure this part out of the process out on their own.
Fatigue also contributes to damaging a trader’s soul. The love for the business and the ability to stay positive diminishes with fatigue and frustration. Professional traders, like pro athletes, have to find a routine and level of work ethic that they can duplicate on a long-term basis. Develop your own routines and make them a habit. Remember that a habit is like a tiny strand of steel that you weave each day until it becomes an unbreakable cable.