You’ve read all the books. You know the theory behind great trading psychology. You have dozens of insights and techniques. And yet you struggle. Feeling like the markets are personally out to get you. Feeling like a victim. Feeling like it’s too hard.
I have one sentence for you. It’s supposed to be hard. Read that again. Because not only is it the simple truth, but internalizing that sentence will also do more for your trading psychology than most things you could ever try.
Think about what you’re saying when you tell yourself that it’s supposed to be hard. You’re saying that no matter what you’re going through right now- losing streak, bad stretch of results, missed opportunities- it’s normal. That no matter how bad it feels, it’s all a part of the path. That no matter what happens… you’re not a victim.
And what could be more damaging to your trading psychology than feeling like a victim? You blame the market for your losses. You feel bad and demotivated when you hit a rough stretch. You feel helpless and hopeless. And this feeds all your other bad habits of lack of discipline. It’s a root cause. After all, discipline is a state of mind, and your state of mind is influenced most by how positive and in control you feel.
But you’ll no longer feel like a victim when you finally internalize the fact that it’s supposed to be hard. Adversity won’t feel so much like some unfortunate event that blindsided you anymore. Adversity is part of the process. And because you know it’s supposed to be hard, you’re not so frustrated when adversity inevitably rears its head. Now you’re expecting it. Waiting for it. Ready to use it to push you forward.
Why? Because you now know that handling adversity is what separates the wannabe traders from the pros. It’s what great trading psychology is really all about. And so now you’ll dig deeper when it arises. It’s not an unfortunate incident- this is supposed to be hard. And you’ll revel in the challenge. It’s not an unfair playing field- this is supposed to be hard. And you’ll stop blaming external circumstances. After all, this is supposed to be hard.
And something ironic will happen. You’ll start being grateful that it’s so hard. Because it’ll hit you that if it were easy the rewards would be small. But that’s not why you got into trading. You want the rewards. And so you stop complaining, and you get working. And while all those traders around you curse their luck, and the markets, and the latest stop-out and missed opportunity, you quietly continue working on your craft. Because you know something that they don’t…
So what are you waiting for? It’s supposed to be hard and it’s not going to get any easier. Tell yourself that, and get working. Tell it to yourself the next time you take a loss. And tell it to yourself the when you miss a big trade. And tell it to yourself when it feels impossible to succeed. Because it’s not impossible. And you can make it. And you will make it. It’s just supposed to be hard.
