Self-Confidence in Trading – Important but Dangerous Skill

Self-confidence in trading is a prerequisite to an efficient and productive trading experience. Without it, you aren’t going to taste success. Why so? Because not having confidence in yourself, your decisions, and your trading system means not being able to take on-time trading decisions. Therefore, it is paramount to practice different methods to achieve self-confidence. 

Given the importance of self-confidence in trading, we are going to tell you how it is so important in trading. We are going to cover various aspects that you need to understand. Let’s begin right away. 

How is self-confidence in trading important? 

Confidence in your trading skills, abilities, and a trading plan is a big and crucial part of trading. As you know, your trading performance and productivity solely depend on you. You aren’t in a collaborative office environment where team members help each other. In trading, you are all alone and have to make decisions on your own. And you can only make the best decisions when you have self-confidence and self-belief. Self-confidence in trading is important because you:

• Need to make timely decisions and execute strategies with perfection
• Achieve self-management and practice discipline to develop a healthy attitude to trading
• Attain more trading productivity and efficiency with motivation
• Believe in internal Locus of control (the degree to which people believe that they have control over themselves and everything else around them) instead of blaming external factors you don’t have control over
• Keep emotions at bay while trading, even during tough and challenging conditions
• Maintain positive mindset

All these things are integral to successful trading and can be achieved by having self-confidence and self-belief. That’s why self-confidence in trading maximizes the odds of success in your favor.

What are the characteristics of self-confident traders

The following are key characteristics of self-confident traders.

1. Learn from failures

Self-confident traders always learn from their failures. They don’t let themselves be stopped by failures. Instead, they learn from their failures and mistakes. They keep on trying again and again to accomplish things. Self-confident traders set their eyes on success and aren’t affected by temporary setbacks. 

2. Consider challenges as temporary obstacles

Self-confident traders never give up even when facing the toughest challenges. Even the hardest of challenges and hardships cannot overwhelm them. Success becomes something written in your fate if you try again and again to achieve success. That’s what confident traders do. They have the willpower and determination to move obstacles aside or find a way around them to reach their destination. 

3. Set optimistic goals

Confident traders also set higher and more optimistic goals as compared to other unconfident traders. It is quite simple to understand. When you have complete faith in yourself and your abilities, you set higher goals. It doesn’t mean that self-confidence in trading leads you to set unrealistic goals. Instead, self-confidence gives you the energy and enthusiasm to set high goals and then do everything to achieve them. 

4. Never be complacent

All self-confident traders share a trait among themselves and that is never to be complacent. They have a growth mindset that never allows them to rest. Rather, they always look for new ways and opportunities to move ahead. They don’t stick to one level and always think about where they are now in life and where they must be. 

How to develop self-confidence in trading?

You can develop self-confidence in trading through determination and continuous effort. That is a brief answer but not enough for you. Let me tell you in detail.

Your determination and continuous effort are two traits that lay the foundation of self-confidence. These are traits that not only give you confidence but also optimize your trading performance. So, the first step is to develop these two vital traits in yourself so that you can follow the following steps to develop self-confidence. 

1. Always stay prepared

Let’s suppose that you have a job interview. When you are fully prepared for it, you have more confidence. Similarly, when you stay prepared, your trading performance gets better. And always staying prepared is synonymous with greater efficiency and productivity in trading. It empowers you to take timely and accurate decisions when it comes to taking action. Additionally, staying prepared also enables you to perform better even in unexpected circumstances. As you know, trading is an arena full of surprises and uncertainties. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to stay prepared to deal with any surprises coming your way. 

2. Develop a belief in your abilities and skills

Developing belief in your abilities and skills gives you confidence. It is this belief that empowers you to take timely and necessary steps to achieve your goals. It never lets you falter and hesitate from entering or exiting trades. 

3. Self-accountability

Self-accountability is a virtue that always guides you to become better not only in trading but in life in general. When you hold yourself accountable, you find ways to correct your mistakes and shortcomings. For example, if your trading strategy has a flaw, you will find ways to eliminate that flaw instead of blaming anything else. Moreover, you leave no stone unturned to gain more trading knowledge, skills, and expertise. In short, self-accountability transforms your trading endeavor. 

4. Test your trading plan on a demo account

A demo or a virtual account is a remarkable tool. Most trading platforms offer this tool that enables traders to test their trading plan and strategy without risking real money. Fortunately, you can capitalize on this tool to boost your self-confidence in trading as well. How so? It is because once you have a tested and proven trading strategy, you can go on to implement it in real trading without hesitation. 

Why self-confidence in trading is an important but dangerous skill?

We have discussed in detail how self-confidence in trading empowers you to optimize your trading performance. However, it may also be a dangerous skill for you. As you know, a very fine margin separates confidence and over-confidence. Having self-confidence doesn’t mean making impulsive trading decisions. If you do that, you are over-confident and that can be very dangerous. Trading is risky and therefore, trade with confidence, not over-confidence.