In recent history trading has acquired an infamous and glamorous reputation, appealing to the maverick spirit with tales of rogue traders bringing about the collapse of famous and respected financial institutions to being masters of the universe. Untold fortunes being made and lost with equal speed. It sounds almost Hollywood, in fact it is. Films have been based around stories from the trading floor. Life, it is often quoted, is stranger than fiction. In the world of trading there has been no shortage of unbelievable stories.

But it is in the quiet backwaters where hedonism is replaced by discipline and routine that steady and long-term profit is really accumulated. Without those qualities trading is ultimately a loser’s game. Trading successfully is about discipline, the discipline to stick to your rules and routine in a consistent manner; hardly the stuff of Hollywood fiction; in fact rather boring. So given these qualities are such an integral part of trading success, what exactly are they, how do they apply to us and why, as budding traders, aren’t we all practising them?

Discipline, or self-control, is a term we are all familiar with and probably something that most of us like to think we have a handle on, when we chose! But in reality it is a quality that can be much more elusive than we care to acknowledge, and most of us are undoubtedly adept at bringing to bear any number of reasons to excuse ourselves from our failures of discipline. Discipline underpins the mindset of successful traders. It is behind the application of a tried and tested strategy consistent with a particular set of rules within a given framework that gives a high probability of success. It is behind taking responsibility for your trading decisions.

So what does that mean for the new trader? It means deciding on a strategy that fits with your temperament, style or commitments and then back-testing it thoroughly to see how it has worked in the past. It is about understanding the rules of the strategy that are required to be met in order to use it to enter and exit the market, and it is about applying all this within a framework of routine so that there is consistency. Consistency is vital, and a trading plan is a necessary part of building it. This, of course, is not to say that you can’t take time away from the markets, but that when you trade you apply your methods and rules with complete consistency. This is what gives you an edge in the market and ultimately makes you a winner.

If you feel you could take up the challenge of becoming a successful trader, then you must from the outset create the right environment, which means using appropriate forex trading strategies and developing disciplined habits to trade with, and importantly building a network of associates who you can learn from and talk to.

Despite the glamorous titles that traders have often been labelled it is a skill accessible to virtually anyone; but making a success of it requires discipline.

I suggest it is undoubtedly worth looking at the Learn Forex Training Program of Rob Colville’s The Lazy Trader. It gives you tried and tested strategies, market analysis, his trade signals, and builds an in depth understanding of the rules, and importantly, the mindset required for success. It is a club, with all the benefits of club membership, not a one off course that leaves you feeling ‘where do I go from here’, after you’ve completed it.