Quote from NoDoji:
When you say "good at trading technically" I'm interpreting that as "good at recognizing price behavior that leads to profit A before hitting stop loss B more often than not and B is less than or equal to A". (If you don't have rules defining positive expectancy price behaviors/patterns, you have no basis for technical trading, and should expect the same long term results as a recreational casino gambler but without the free liquor.)
Now assuming you CAN read the market technically based on a well-researched plan with fixed rules, when you say "I don't have patience and discipline" I'm interpreting that as any or all of the following:
"I jump the gun and put on trades before a valid signal appears."
"I get bored, lose focus, miss a valid trade entry and either get in late or put on 'out-of-plan' trades" to try and get back what I missed."
"When a position shows an unrealized profit, I move my stop to break even to prevent the chance of a loss, or I take a small profit instead of holding for a full minimum profit necessary to maintain the edge provided by my plan."
If my interpretations are in line with your experiences, the solution is to trade in a simulated account until you're trading your plan according to the rules and producing results in line with the profits demonstrated during the research/testing phase of plan development.
The goals of the simulated trading experience are much like the goals of a student pilot's simulated flight experiences. You're learning to follow fixed rules until it becomes second nature to do so. You're learning to focus on what needs to be done right here and right now by adhering to a process that results in safe and timely arrival at a particular destination more often than not, rather than focusing on the destination and forgetting to follow the important steps that get you there.
The first positive sign you may be ready to trade live is when you're trading all valid setups that appear and managing them according to your plan, and have a profitable net result that's close to your test result.
The second sign that you may be ready to trade live is when you find yourself immediately placing your order when a valid setup signals; when you find that the mere placing of the initiating order according to your plan brings immense satisfaction.
The sign that you're finally ready to give it a go with real money is when "in plan" losing trades that were managed properly produce no more emotional response than paying your utility bills each month, and you find yourself patiently awaiting the next valid setup.
I assure you that 95% of aspiring traders are missing one or more of these important steps to success: research demonstrating an edge; written plan based on research; regular forward testing demonstrating results very similar to research/backtest results; ability to follow the plan comfortably and confidently in a real-time simulated environment.
If you're not able to then transfer this mindset to live trading, yet still want to trade, you should seek the help of a professional trading psychologist.
