Our emotions are not the enemy of traders - they fulfill useful functions, e.g. they pick up market nuances ignored by the conscious mind, they warn us we are trading too large a size etc. The key to our emotions is to be aware of them, acknowledge them and then decide if it is the fight or flight speaking or the voice that is warning us of danger. As traders we make emotions our ally and a voice in our trading operations.

A good educational program is one that teaches unique information and skills that are directly relevant to the kind of trading you are pursuing. It teaches that material in an engaging manner that allows for hands-on, practical learning through experience. Ultimately, your best teacher will be market experience. Good training programs don’t produce expertise or elite performance, but they can hasten the learning curve.

I feel certain that my discipline in executing each and every trade according to my trading methodology is the secret to my success. If you want to improve your trading, what you need to do is very simple. Before you enter any trade, imagine that you will have to explain this trade to a panel of your peers, by explaining to them the reason for your entry, your money, trade, and risk management guidelines, and why you exited the trade. Imagine having to explain why you chose this particular market and this particular time frame, along with how you set objectives for the trade, and how you determined where your initial protection would be. If you can truly do this, I strongly believe that you can be successful.