Routine and Mindset in Trading Success

Anyone can pitch in a topic when it comes to productive trading mindsets. But what does it take to get into the right trading mindset and achieve success? Some traders say that a mindset of gratitude is powerful and can significantly help with trading. However, there is a mindset that is more powerful and more driving than appreciation, and that is routine.

Routine is what you get when a persistent trader does not stop until he or she reaches the right strategies and mindset in trading and perfects it every day. There is no perfect strategy, as every trader differs. You must know first your skills in trading and pick the right strategy for you. When you have finally found the perfect routine for you, then you are on the road to making profits. 

The thing is, any trader can talk about useful trading mindsets, but unless you create your routine and instill it every day, your old thinking will then kick in, and you’ll find yourself back to where you started. 

The Unconscious

Routine, if not deliberately instilled, can quickly turn back to an old mindset. This is because every one of us has unconscious programming. And while we may consciously pick and prefer one mindset and believe its effectivity, that doesn’t automatically equate to consistently thinking that way, especially when you get challenged by events. Sometimes when we feel pressure, old mindsets that are only lurking under the surface start to creep in. Even the tiniest trigger can pull us back to our old thinking, completely forgetting the new mindset we just instilled in ourselves.

This has happened to most, if not all, of us. You promise to yourself about sticking to the current mindset you are engulfed in, but as soon as you hit your first loss or when you miss an excellent opportunity, your old mindsets start to kick in, completely throwing off the mindset you engaged yourself with. I know this because I am just like you, susceptible to negative thinking. I’ve experienced it more than I could remember. And this is especially more common in traders.

If you are persistent about being a profitable trader, you must not let this happen again and again. What you must do is reprogram your unconscious mind. It’s not enough to want to stay motivated or to want to think in a certain way, because eventually that will be thrown off by the next adversity that hits you. Wanting to believe in a certain way is only on the surface, meaning it’s in the conscious, and the unconscious part of you is always more powerful. It will overpower you every time.

Reprogram Your Mind

Now, the question becomes: How can you reprogram the unconscious part of your mind? It was already mentioned at the beginning of this article. What you need is routine. A successful routine means deliberately practicing something and following it every day no matter what adversities come your way. Over time, your daily mental routine will be instilled into your unconsciousness. 

Once this routine is so ingrained in your unconsciousness, it will feel almost like it’s wrong not to act or think that way. Even when your old mindsets suddenly resurface, you will immediately notice that something is wrong. This way, you can quickly catch yourself. By that time, your routine will now be a reasonable thing to you, that it will be unnatural to be distracted with past mindsets. You will now look at it from a different perspective and no longer fall into it unconsciously. This means that your old mindsets are currently only in the conscious part of you, making it easier to throw it off. 

In time, your awareness of these old mindsets trying to creep back in will help you in reprogramming your mind, making you stick to your daily routine. Now you might be asking, how long can a mindset or a routine be ingrained in your mind for it to work successfully? It differs from person to person, but you can use the following guidelines to help you get there:

• The more deeply ingrained and pervasive an old thought pattern is, the longer time it will take you to reprogram your mind. You must be patient and determined.
• Practice a daily mental routine for 30 days. This will depend on what mindset you want to get yourself into.
• The more dedicated you are to change your mindset, the faster and the more ingrained it will be in your mind.
• To instill the new mindset to the point that it becomes your natural thinking, it’s in your best interest to do a short version of the routine aside from the long one.
• Practice your daily mental routine even outside of trading.

Changing your mindset and perfecting it is going to take time and effort, but it doesn’t have to be unpleasant and distracting to your other chores. Even a few minutes of practicing your routine every day can significantly help in reprogramming your mind. You have to remember to keep your focus while you’re at it. If you want to attain trading success so bad, this is only a small price to pay. 

Lastly, remember that you can achieve anything as long as you put your mind to it.