Trading is like fishing. You have to wait for a good catch

Trading is often perceived as an adrenaline sport, where the trader waits anxiously for the right signal to enter and then waits with growing tension to see how the trade will eventually "turn out". In reality, however, it shouldn't be like that at all.

A scenario where trading becomes an adrenaline sport is one of the worst scenarios a trader can face. When a trader opens and closes positions under pressure, or is nervous while doing so, there is a high probability that his trades will result in losses. Even if a trader is successful in the beginning of his trading journey, excessive joy, even euphoria, from profits is not what he should feel. In fact, the euphoria of successful trades can mean that the sadness and frustration of losing trades will be greater. This of course will lead to even more nervousness and more mistakes that end up crashing the account.

Boring? Kind of

Many of the more experienced traders who have reached the stage where they can consistently make money have the opposite problem. It is not uncommon for them to complain that trading is becoming boring for them. Practically speaking, this certainly shouldn't be a problem, because even if it doesn't work out, trading is a long-term process of learning, educating and improving. There is always something to keep a trader's attention, besides learning new things, like writing down trades in a journal and analysing the executed trades, etc.

Trading could really be compared to fishing. More experienced traders know that trading is largely about waiting for the right signal, so patience is one of the most important prerequisites for successful trading. When a trader feels that he must make a trade every day at all costs, it often happens that he does so without getting a strong enough signal. Instead, he actively looks for situations where he sees that signal, even if it is not actually there. It's similar to the fisherman who wants to pull in a fish so badly that he pulls out his rod every time he sees any small bite.

Preparation is important

Another important factor that reduces impatience is not to underestimate preparation. If a fisherman takes a small, thin rod with a very thin line and expects to catch a metre-long pike, he will probably be very surprised when, after a while of struggle, the pike swims off with the line broken off.

Nor should traders underestimate the preparation for their trading day. Setting the right mindset, plotting important support and resistance levels, possibly plotting the previous day's closing prices, etc. Everyone follows something different, but some order and routine, including adherence to a daily regimen, is a must for any successful trader. Again, to some this may seem like a bore, but routine is indeed one of the foundations of success in trading.

You won't catch a big fish everyday

Some traders also have the problem of waiting for the right trade to come along that will provide you with virtually all of your return for the month or other trading period.

The problem is that when such a trade doesn't come, traders get frustrated and impatient and often then hold unprofitable trades for an unnecessarily long time that they should have closed long ago with less profit (in the worst case, they end up making an average profit at a loss).

It is the same with the fisherman who sits by the pond every day and imagines taking a picture with a two-metre catfish that he has fought for hours and all his friends envy him. His frustration then grows with each below-average catch, yet it is completely unnecessary. But such a catch may never come, because in both trading and fishing, luck plays a role that we simply cannot control. And we certainly shouldn't rely on such luck.

But not to be too pessimistic, we can say that if a trader/fisherman does everything right, does not underestimate the preparation and can wait for his opportunity, the probability of such a catch/trade increases. It just takes a lot of patience. Trade safe!