The Worst Mistake You Can Make in Trading!

This is something i myself has experienced and to be honest, it’s probably
happened to almost every trader out there at some time or another.

Unfortunately, for many it could be the beginning of the end.

As we all know, to be successful at trading we need to come up with a certain set of rules we will follow each and everyday. These rules are extremely important as they give our trading structure and help us to decide what to do and, just as importantly, what not to do.

If you have good solid trading rules and you follow them consistently, then making profits and avoiding large losses should be an attainable goal. But, on the other hand, if you don’t follow your rules, you will receive many more losses than you would otherwise. And, here’s where the big mistake comes in.

If you don’t follow your rules and the trade ends up being a winner, you will most likely breathe a sigh of relief when it’s over. But in reality, you shouldn’t be relieved. You may have just made an error that will cause you to fail faster than any other trading mistake you could’ve made.

You see, if this trade (where you didn’t follow your rules) works out, then you will be more likely not to follow your rules the next time. Again, this is the worst mistake you can make. This will cause more damage to your trading account than any other error you can make.

And the worst thing is it’s so tempting not to follow your rules just this one time. But you must learn that there can’t be a “just this one time.” You must follow your rules every time, without exception.

For example,

Imagine you are a trader who usually averages about $50-$100 a day in your favorite forex pair. Your progress is going along fine just trying to make your goal each and everyday, but one day, you get greedy and say,“there has to be a way i could make more profits”. (I’m not sure what’s wrong with $50-$100 a day.) You decide your rules are too restricting and you are missing many opportunities. So you decided that since you are doing so well, you will relax your rules somewhat, so you can get into more trades and hopefully make more profits.

Well, you ignore your rules for a couple of days. Because of that, you end up taking a lot more risk that you are used to. But you think it’s no big deal because you are now averaging $200 a day for a week. Not following your rules is making you more money for now. But am sure you realize what will happen when this trend continues.

Within the next month, you have lost everything you made for the last four months if not already blown it. Now you down for the whole quarter/year when you was pacing on to make $1000-$1500. This happens not because you didn’t follow your rules. No, it happened because you didn’t follow your rules and it worked out. So it gave you a false confidence that you didn’t have to follow your rules.

I’m sure you will go through a time in your trading career (if you haven’t already) where you will be tempted to not follow your rules just this one time. I can’t caution you enough how big of a mistake this can be, especially if it works out and you make a profit. Making money on this “rule-breaking” trade could very well be the most expensive profit you ever make. It then can easily reinforce you to not follow your rules the next time.

It will always be tempting, but avoiding the temptation and resisting making the worst mistake you can make will be much more profitable.

Following your rules consistently is the only way to be a successful trader.

If you decide to not follow your rules just this one time, it won’t be long before you are part of the 80–90% of traders who lose money. Don’t let yourself become a statistic.

Always follow your rules. Don’t let there be a “just this one time.”