"The game of speculation is the most uniformly fascinating game in the world. But it is not a game for the stupid, the mentally lazy, the person of inferior emotional balance, or the get-rich-quick adventurer. They will die poor."

                                                                                             Jesse  Lauriston  Livermore

Trading is a vibrant, live, dynamic world, where time really flies.

Trading  is a multi-faceted activity. It is a complex interaction, largely unconscious, between your  inner world and the fast-moving  external  world . Somehow the bridge connecting both sides must be both flexible and robust, or this activity will not flow smoothly, which in trading terms means losses, lack of focus  and being out of sync.

If you are new to trading then please read carefully the following: In trading you will be creating your own rules and you will be responsible for your own actions. Depending  on  where you come from, that may  sound  obvious, simple and familiar, or it may not. Or  trickier still, it may not look  like a problem at all because you don't yet recognise the issue for what it is.

 If you are used to working in an office where office politics reigns , or if you are used to work in a diplomatic surroundings where you tend to follow a certain code of behaviour, or at any environment where seniority counts,  then the transition will be dramatic for you. You see,  the Market does not know you, nor does it care about you. It may take your money or give you plenty so fast that you could not even count it.  In most global, liquid markets, your money, your position , may be trivial and unlikely to impose any direction on the market.

You enter a field where  your  self- image firmly established in the outside world, will mean zero, yes absolutely  nothing at all. It is as if you landed alone on an  unknown  island  populated  by locals  who are neither  friendly nor hostile, they  don't need you. You must make all the adjustments to cope, no need to go and tell them about your degrees, diplomas, work experience etc, it means nothing to them. They don't even understand your language. Your  best  bet  in the circumstances is to observe quietly, and listen, try figuring out calmly how the place is run and what makes the place tick, so that you can integrate and get a chance to survive there.

 So such a transition can be very  very  tough on anyone to digest and accept. The market will lead you inside yourself like nothing  has done so  in your entire  life. I guarantee that to you.  It will make you face up to your weaknesses mercilessly. It is more than likely that quite a few things need to break inside before  you can build a foundation solid enough to sustain the robust  psychological  transformation  that  trading requires. Be very patient with yourself. Draw comfort from the fact that what you go through is  normal and essential. Learn to take the breaks necessary to replenish your  psychological   reservoirs. Nobody invented yet a shortcut for this process, because you are really  creating  a new you inside yourself.

If  you are committed to trading, then your enthusiasm  will propel you forward and slowly, slowly your new you will rise and assert  itself. Your new you that flows with the market, that  lost that iron stiff ego blanket.  The one that is the listener, the ever  patient, the humble and  the flexible.

I am an enthusiastic  believer  that man is yet to build something remotely approaching the power of the best tool nature gave us, the human brain. In the case of trading this statement goes further  than  just the need to reach an intelligent  conclusion when multiple choices are available. This statement goes to the heart of the principle that you must own your trade. I mean you have to stand 100% behind your trade, with  deep conviction in your mind, because if you do not own your trade you will part ways with it sooner than you think at the sight of real or even imaginative move against you. Though that move may be a perfectly normal reaction of a live , dynamic market action.