Are you into trading as a hobby or as a business? Most likely, if you are reading this, trading is a serious business for you. You want to make profits - big and consistent profits - and you strive to achieve your trading dreams. Yet, too many traders enter their field with the attitude that they will take the market by storm, without a respect for the market itself. They dont take it seriously enough, and all too often, that leads to their downfall.



The market may not always be right, but its always the market. You must respect the market in order to get the profits you want out of it. The money you have to invest is quite significant to you. However, when its stacked up against the entire market, your money barely registers on the market. No matter how much you would like the stocks you buy to rise as soon as you buy them, most of the time, your investment simply isnt enough to convince the market to move in your direction.

Its hard to watch your trades lose money, even in the short term. Watching your balance drop, seeing your savings dip - not a good time. In the The Disciplined Trader, Mark Douglas notes, The typical trader will do most anything to avoid creating definition and rules because he does not want to take responsibility for the results of his trading. Traders have a strong motive to avoid responsibility. And one of the most effective ways to avoid responsibility is to pretend that trading is nothing more than a leisure activity.

If you want to make profits, remember that this is your business, not a hobby, or a part-time job. Take responsibility for what you can control and make decisive actions. You will no doubt make mistakes, but you will be the master of your destiny. When you identify what you can control, and take responsibility for it, you feel empowered. You feel in control, and you are ready to act decisively. And when you feel in control, youll be optimistic and open to the opportunities ahead of you.

When we opt for independence we are opting for our own path. We are creating our own destiny. When we follow the crowd we really dont have the opportunity to carve out our own success. The crowd is made up of average traders doing their basically average trades. Sometimes their profit margin is significant and sometimes it isnt there at all. But considering this theory of average, why would you want to leave your future success in the hands of many, many average traders?

Of course, average can feel very safe to many of us. If we are doing what everyone else is doing, we believe that we are creating a trading environment that is safer. Yet would you allow the average people in your life to choose your house for you or to go buy you a used car in your stead? Of course not. So why then, do we believe it is safer to allow the masses to determine our level of financial success?