Discipline And Trading: The Perfect Pairing
December 15, 2017 Updated October 16, 2023
No Emotions
Being disciplined means setting your emotions to one side and getting on with the job at hand, no matter what. This is how discipline and trading works. The thing is, you can't begin trading working however you want, telling yourself that you'll become more disciplined as time goes on and stakes get higher. You need to start from the beginning, putting discipline and trading together from the outset. Otherwise, you'll fall into undisciplined habits and it will take much longer to get out of them than if you had just started properly in the first place.
Get Good Habits

To have good discipline and trading, you need to change any bad trading habits that you might have picked up. It's so easy to fall into bad habits, much more difficult to get out of them again, but it's possible, and if you want to be a successful trader, it's essential. Those who are able to not only attain but sustain good trading habits are the ones who will go on to make a profit, and discipline and trading come into that hugely. The problem is that most traders come into the market with the idea to make lots of money, and they don't want to think about good habits or trying too hard. That's a mistake. The harder you try to make lots of money quickly, the more difficult it will be because you'll take risks, and lose more money than you make. So those good habits, that discipline and trading, is essential.
Change Your Habits
If you have bad trading habits then you need to change them. It sounds simple, and in theory, it is, but the difficulty of discipline and trading is that habits are hard to break, good or bad. It's important to understand what your bad habits are, and then formulate a strategy to combat them. It might be that you don't trade for a while - as hard as that may be - while you come up with a solution. That will certainly save you money if you're trading with bad habits.
Accept What Is

The first step in getting discipline and trading techniques is to understand the reality of your specific situation and accept what is. Don't try to go bigger if your funds won't cover it. Start small and work up - there's no shame in that. If you don't accept your budget for what it is, you can get into all sorts of trouble. Trading within your means is the first part of the discipline that you need to learn.