As traders, there are processes we can implement in our daily lives that can drastically decrease our stress levels when trading. Here, Leeloo Trading shares three tips for stress management for the trader
Stress management advice for traders
Leeloo is now home to thousands of traders coming from 114+ countries, different professional backgrounds and a wide range of cultural backgrounds.
And stress management-related questions are the ones we get asked most often by our traders!
We are not qualified to offer health advice, so please note that the following article is our take on stress management for traders as a collection of our own experience and wisdom gained over the years.
Why trading is so stressful
There is no doubt that the speed of today's world overloads our sensory system, mainly because technological development has been increasingly fast-paced in recent years.
The major shift in our lives due to technology has forced us to adapt, or at least try to cope with the rate of change and the speed of information to which we are exposed.
Now consider the markets on a relatively calm day...
Every second there are thousands of price updates on a single instrument, which make up a bigger pattern that traders have to read and be able to exploit for profits – regardless of what trading strategy they are using.
That alone is enough to deplete your energy for the day, but couple it with the outcome of the trade, the constraint to remain within the safe loss limits, the pressure to hit a certain profitability mark – you may not make it long term.
After all of this, you have to keep up the studies and the news, try to adapt when the market no longer fits the lenses you were using to read it – and on top of that, most the traders are either working full- or part-time jobs and have families as well!
Running away from all of these responsibilities obviously is not the answer, but there are processes we can implement in our daily life which can drastically decrease the level of stress we are under.
Below are three tips to manage trade-induced stress:
Three top tips for dealing with trading stress
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Develop a daily schedule
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The market and its outcomes are uncertain, no matter how hard you try to master it.
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The more uncertain the environment in which you engage, the higher the stress levels because you don't know what to expect.
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To reduce uncertainty, you can apply the 'Chaos to order' ratio in your life: every day wake up at a certain time, have a portion of time to yourself and a time to study, take your daily walk and talk to your loved ones, etc.
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This way, you know exactly when you sit down to trade or not and you are not subject to the market fluctuations.
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This way, your life is not dictated by some random market move, but by your own setting.
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Keep physically fit
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This is the singlemost important factor that determines the quality of your life, the quality of your thoughts, the impact your emotions have on your life, as well as how well you perform in trading or other ventures you decide.
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There comes a point when people start to take care of their bodies when they fail them and fear of death is a great motivator for change, but why let it go that far?
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Fitness is not about a three-month change, it is about a lifestyle adaptation, of you respecting and loving yourself enough to set it up for success.
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A healthy body goes hand in hand with a healthy mind and emotions.
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What is the single biggest reason traders fail? Emotional immaturity and lack of discipline, both of which can be altered considerably if one makes part of their daily routine working out and eating healthily at least 80% of the time.
Set realistic goals
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It's impossible to achieve something you do not envision, this is why it is important to write down, or print out whatever your long term vision is.
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However, most of the time traders sabotage themselves because they do not have a clear plan to realizing this vision. The path is not a straight line, it is uncertain, rough and demanding.
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It's easy to fall back to being demoralized and in square one if you do not have realistic goals when it comes to trading, and sometimes you may get blinded to how much progress you have made from where you started because you are comparing yourself to where you are supposed to be in the long run.
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Set realistic goals, keep track of your progress, evaluate your walk and give yourself a pat in the back from time to time!
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Here, some of our top traders share their top tips to staying helathy and happy every day, plus here's a handy overview of day traing psychology, with top tips on self-care, staying focused and managing your emotions when trading.
Leeloo Trading fitness challenge
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This August we have decided to run a Fitness Challenge to encourage everyone to get back on track.
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We want to reward the best transformation with going straight to a Paid Performance Account, without needing to go through the evaluation.
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To participate, you simply have to start working out or changing your diet as needed. Based on before and after pictures, we will announce the winner on the second week of September.
For more information check out our social media pages or email us at healthy@leelootrading.com
