One of the things everyone who trades needs to do is to keep things in perspective. Trading is something we do, but it’s not the only thing we do. There are a great many other parts of our life and what makes us who we are. Trading needs to account for that and be incorporated into your life in a compatible, supportive fashion.
Be cautious about identifying yourself as “a trader”. I say that because when you label yourself in that way you automatically create an association in your mind based on what you have come to think of as a trader. That association will have been built up from all the things you have seen, read, heard about, and experienced in that regard – much of which probably has absolutely nothing to do with you specifically.
That last part is the key. Trading is a very personal thing. No two people are going to trade exactly the same way. When you think of yourself as “a trader”, though, you associate yourself with actions and perceptions and images which come at least in part from other traders. That image in your mind may create internal conflict which hampers your performance.
So thing of yourself as “someone who trades” rather than as “a trader”. It could help to release you to trade the way you are capable.
A Trading Plan only has value if it is utilized as intended. It does you no good to have one if you do not stick to it. We all know this, yet traders find reasons to deviate from their Plan, almost always with negative consequences. Why? There are several reasons.