10 Tips on How to Stay Motivated

Trading requires a deep fascination with the markets, strong work ethic and persistence. Traders are also human and experience emotions – we go through ups and downs in our trading journey. And with these constant challenges, our motivation can fluctuate. It can be hard to keep up trading motivation, particularly when you’ve had a bad trade or feel that you are not advancing as quickly as you’d like.

In this article, I’ll give you ten tips on how to stay motivated in trading to keep you fired up or when you need a pick me up on your journey to success.

1. Focus on your WHY

Before you even commit to a trading goal, know the reasons WHY you are trading. Your WHY serves as the cornerstone of your motivation.

2. Write Down Your Goals & Visualise Your End Results

When you write your trading goals down, something special happens as it moves from the metaphysical (thought) to the physical (on paper).

3. Seek out Community

When you share your trading goals, you’re not only committing to your dream, you’re asking for support, accessing a wide range of resources, and strengthening your desire to reach the end result.

4. Engage Your Physical State

Use a ritual to signify you’re ready, like using your favourite pen when writing in your trading journal etc. Each personalised routine signals your body to tell your mind it’s time for your motivation, energy, and creativity to appear.

5. Set Up Your Environment for Success

Get cleaning and ensure you have reminders in your workspace about your WHY like a vision board; decluttering can be a really cathartic experience for your motivation.

6. Challenge Yourself

Keep growing and striving. Develop and backtest new systems. Learn new strategies, stretch that comfort zone to challenge yourself to go further.

7. Revisit Your Achievements

Remind yourself of those things you’ve previously achieved and succeeded at. Reinforcing past success is a great way to renew your motivation and energy.

8. Celebrate and Reward Yourself

Whether you’ve reached a small milestone or achieved a great leap forward in your trading – anchor in your success both mentally and physically by celebrating and rewarding each and every achievement.

9. Go Outside

Fresh air is great for blowing away the mental cobwebs and physically re-energising.  Reboot by going for a walk, run, or just sit in the garden and spend time appreciating nature.

10. Rest

If all else fails, draw a line under the day and get an early night. Get a good night’s sleep and make the decision to have a fresh start in the morning