Yet, when you check out the meaning of that word perfect, you see: Excellent in all respects; without defect or blemish. Most new traders think everything will be just right. Theyll find all the necessary data and information, gather all the required tools, find just the right trade, and make bundles of money. When you put your money on the line, there is a strong need to seek out perfection.

The desire to be perfect cost me plenty of money in the early days of my trading career. Why? Because a perfectionist cannot take a loss, so small losses can easily turn into bigger losses for the trader who is not able to admit being wrong. Plus the trader will try to book a profit too soon to feel like a winner. The objective in trading should be excellence, not perfection. Theres a tremendous need in all of us to be right. The problem is that being right and making money in the markets are often two different things.

Trading is probably the worst thing to try to do if youre a perfectionist. Youre constantly being told how wrong you are and asked whats your win rate? Many traders spend the entire day waiting for the ideal market conditions. They compulsively look at so many indicators that they over complicate things. The entire analysis becomes a waste of time, and results in analysis paralysis. Another sign of perfectionism in trading is the need to be on a winning streak all the time. Theyre not, and they feel something is wrong either with the system or with them.

Its natural for people to want to be perfect in a few things, say in their job - being a good editor or surgeon depends on not making mistakes, said Gordon L. Flett, a psychology professor at York University and an author of many of studies on perfectionism. Its when it generalizes to other areas of life, home life, appearance, hobbies, that you begin to see real problems.

You dont have to be perfect or without defect or blemish - as a trader. Just have a solid trading plan and follow it. You wont hit winners all the time, so dont expect that you will. Sometimes youll be right, and other times you wont. Winston Churchill once said, They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish theyd make up their minds. As a trader, you should prefer the latter.