Quote from illiquid:
It's amazing how much of an artform trading is, not only because there are innumerable ways to trade successfully, but also because you become the trader that you were meant to be. Psychologically, trading is all engulfing -- there is no more honest a mirror than your monitor while you are holding a position.
Just remember, our psyches learn and change the same way prices of a market move: always adapting, always discounting. There are very few constants, while the counterintuitive is usually "correct". For example, of course you need discipline to succeed, most traders would say. But the flipside is, you also need courage, you also need to be a little reckless. Why? That is how you learn, to progress, by taking chances. The most mentally iron-clad and disciplined trader will never learn to adapt, to take things to the next level, if he is always afraid to break a certain rule, cross a certain line, etc. The first live trade you make will always be a little reckless, just because you know you know so little. But after that first trade you will already have learned more than a hundred hours on a simulator. Just one example to think about.
Many questions on this board are akin to a student asking an artist: How do you make a great painting? When do you use the color blue? I've used alot of blue in my painting, why isn't my painting as good? etc etc etc. Don't believe there's always one or two answers to the problem of success, it's just not that simple at all.
