Chris Lori: From Bobsleigh To Trading

Chris Lori knows about pressure; he has featured in the Olympic Games four times in bobsleighing. This has given him an understanding of pressure and technique. He also knew how important practice was. These traits, and more, have served him well throughout his trading journey. He has been Forex trading professionally for 18 years. 

Takeaways

• Having the right psychological mindset is all-important in trading

• Each trader is a unique individual - copying others does not work

• Trading requires a deep understanding of yourself if you want to succeed

How did Chris get into Forex trading?

It's been an interesting life! When in sport, it was always weighing on Chris Lori's mind as to what would happen in retirement. He retired at 35, but wasn't at a loss. He had always studied the markets which meant that when he did retire and he wanted to run his own business, he immediately went into trading.

Once Chris Lori engaged in the process of building a trading persona and psyche, he quickly found that everything he had endured mentally in sport was directly transferable into the development of himself as a trader. He didn't realise it at first, but when it did become clear he was amazed.

It just goes to show that anyone can be a trader, whether it's similar to what you've been doing before or completely different. When he understood this, he began to think back about his own experiences and internalized them to help him. After that, his trading success accelerated.

Learn your own style

In trading, Chris Lori's first piece of advice is to remember that the goal is not to copy someone else; everyone is different and just because something works for them it doesn't mean it will work for you.

You need to find your own uniqueness in the process. It is important to learn this as soon as you can otherwise you will waste a lot of time trying to emulate someone else. That way you can be your own trader and do your own thing that works for you before you do anything else.

Chris has evolved as a trader

Chris Lori is a different trader now to what he was in 1998. Things change as you learn different techniques and ideas. We all start out with a blank slate and go through a discovery period, and then you work out where your skillset is. And that is how you end up trading. You need to understand your strengths and natural thought processes. This should not be confused with a desire for making money and taking action. The power of trading is in the financial gain. Be aware that if this is your focus, you will be compromising on the natural process of what needs to be done.

If your goal is to gain satisfaction from learning about market structure and fundamentals you will be successful. You should also enjoy working out probability, lining up parameters, and overcoming psychological challenges. If you focus on the task, the end result will take care of itself, so take your mind off the financial gain.

Plan your moves

You need to have a trading plan, but it has to be yours, not someone else's. If you follow a ready made plan you will no do well at all. The plan is about your own development process, which is why it has to be your own. You need to break down how you are going to develop as a trader.

Read books on fundamentals and look at the charts. Gain an intimate understanding of price behaviour at an intensive level. so that you know all aspects of price delivery.

Give yourself time to develop your mind

It will take a while, warns Chris Lori. It has to. You need the deepest understanding of why price moves as it does so that you can anticipate it. You then blend your own psychological profile with market movement.

That's how to make your own plan. Then things fall into place because you have confidence and experience, and you understand the market because of how you think. You don't need anyone else's validation.

Spending a little could save you thousands

It is inevitable that people will go and find out as much as they can for free at the beginning. The funny thing is, this 'free' advice, looking at pre-made charts, copying what other people are doing, can often lead to burning through thousands of pounds.

Signing up to a course for a few hundred pounds or dollars would give you the information you need to be much more successful. Yet people do not tend to want to do that.

Know thy self

A lot of traders want to do everything and know everything about everything. Chris Lori completely understands that way of thinking.  It is far better to be a master of one thing and use that as an avenue into the markets.

Understand what you have mastered better than anyone else can understand it, and you will be successful. No one else will be able to look at things the way you do - you need to find your uniqueness and use it.

Lower your expectation for greater success

If someone is breaking even that's amazing. It's underrated. You are just one small tweak away from being successful. The difference might just be something emotional, like a roadblock that you're putting up for yourself.

For example, you need to engage in the development process that will result in a trading plan rather than the plan itself. That can remove the psychological roadblocks for you.

Conclusion

It is important to go through the exploratory process to work out how you think and what your emotions are to match the market space at the moment of your trade. If it doesn't match up, don't do it. It's not worth it. Wait until the time is right. Patience is so important in trading.

Chris Lori can be found at www.protradersclub.com