Any savvy trader will tell you to approach the markets with a positive mindset. Theyll emphasize the fact that, if you are under stress, your whole trading day will be impacted by the decisions you make. Even if you have a clear trading plan, where all of your movements are delineated and spelled out, tension will cause your perceptions and intuition to go haywire. You can miss the obvious, which would not happen if you were in the right state of mind.



Take this mini-quiz to see how your level of trading stress really is - if the item is true, give yourself a 1. If false, a 0.

1.I often over-analyze an investment decision.

2.I often feel that there is too much information to absorb.

3.I wish that I had more time to think.

4.I am a pessimist.

5.I often hesitate at the most critical trading moments.

How did you score? If you received a score of 0 or 1, you are more relaxed when approaching trades and are, most likely, quite profitable. If your score was 4 or 5, you probably tend to experience anxiety while trading, have difficulty handing risk, and experience more loss than gain.

Now, were not telling you to be carefree. A healthy level of anxiety is required to be a risk-taker. But what we are saying is Relax! Seasoned traders make the most profits when they arent expecting them. They observe the markets with an open mind, and lo and behold! They make a profitable trade. If you put too much stress on yourself, your mind plays tricks on you. You have feelings of self-doubt and pressure yourself to succeed.

Its important to develop a relaxed mindset. Try this - Dont think about the money! If you dont focus on the money side of a trade, youll find yourself in a better mental state. Instead, think of each trade as keeping score. If you make a good trade, you score more points. A not so successful trade, you lose a few points. In the end, you will find you have a much more healthy view toward the markets and your well laid-out trading plan.

Enjoy the intellectual challenge of trading. You win some; you lose some. Think of it as a game and how fun trading can be.

Honestly evaluating your performance and progress is a hard thing to accomplish without at least a little input from a concrete source. We all want to be successful in any venture we tackle. We often tend to put a mistake out of our mind, after all it was just a little one. Actually, there may have been five or six little ones that we arent counting. Using a figure to reflect your performance is concrete and irrefutable. There is no way to misinterpret your numbers game.