Psychology of a spread better
As a new spread better you may wonder what the hell has psychology go to do with trading. I know when I first started spread betting I didn’t give my own emotions a second thought. I’d always had my eye on the stock market and thought it would be simple to make money from it. It was not before long that I realised there is more to making money from the stock market than meets the eye.
If you’ve never traded live before then you may be surprised to realise exactly what is involved. One of the major factors on the path to spread betting success is your trading psychology. When I here the word psychology I think of lying on a couch while someone is asking me about my parents, upbringing and my relationships. So what does psychology have to do with spread betting. You may be surprised to learn that it is, probably, the most important factor in becoming a successful spread better.
A spread betting strategy, sound money management etc. you can forget about all of them if you are not in control of your emotions(psychology) when spread betting. Your trading psychology will govern why you don’t cut losses at the level your strategy suggests or cut your winners too soon before getting as much from them as possible.
So what can you do to improve your trading psychology? Well this is a question only you can answer. It may take a while for you to find the answer but if you do not then you probably will not be successful at spread betting. The way I deal with my own emotions it to stick to my trading strategy to the letter. I now know if I stray from my strategy for example, by letting a loss run, taking profits too early or entering a trade with out all the entry criteria in place, then I have lost before I’ve even begun.
It took me a while to get to where I am today and I still have to constantly work on my emotions. Only the other day I was thing to take a profit early. This was not part of my strategy but it got so far into profit that I wanted to take the money. My fear was staring to get the better of me. I was fearful of losing such a big gain. However, my strategy dictated otherwise. My exit criteria were not met and so I stuck with the trade.
It may take a while before you get to a point where you have your emotions in check. If you work at it you will get there eventually. Of course there will always be times when you are tested but with hard work and determination you can become the master of you own trading psychology.
