As a trader of 4 years, I learned Many things, but the most important thing I learned was being patience. Patience is by far the hardest thing to achieve because from my point of view, I always wanted to be in the market. The excitement, the blood rush, knowing you can make money quick and fast. That was my psychology. This problem is not only me, but many traders as well. I have spoken to an abundant amount of traders and they always tell me
"I can't miss this move"
"I want to make money fast"
"What if this is the bottom or what if this is the top"
"I miss my entry, but I will just go in anyway."
"I am bored."
"Market not moving"
When I started trading back then, I always had these comments imbedded in my mind as well. I always wanted to be in the market, I always wanted to make money fast, etc. But in reality this is not the case. I started to change my mindset of trading when I took a big loss, yes a big loss, not just any loss, a loss that made me learn my lesson.
It all started 2 years ago, I was trading a crypto pair. I had my plan set up. I knew where I should long and where I should short. Days pass and the price was nowhere near my area of interest. The feeling of boredom, the feeling of wanting to be in the market, the feeling of "I might miss out" came. So I took the trade. Then the next day happened, boom, I took a loss. I was upset and without being patience enough to wait for the entry, I took another trade because I wanted to get my loss back and I couldn't wait to do so and the result was another loss. This is where it happened, after both losses, I waited for the pair to go to my ideal set up, It took weeks before it did. I wanted to see what would have happened if I just waited. When the pair was in my ideal spot, I took the trade. Days pass and the trade hit my Take profit. That very moment, I knew I had to be patient.
As of now, Every Weekend, I mark my areas of interest from daily all the way down to 4 hour or even 1 hour. I have never taken a trade until it hits my area of interest. This made me a better trade.
Remember there are many more aspect of trading than just being patience. This is just one of many important key elements of becoming a successful trader!