Ego Is An Enemy That Stands Between You and Your Success 

Hi, welcome back again. I want to keep this post as short as possible. I might sound a bit controversial (I’ll probably go hide after this, smiles) but that is not my intention. My intention is to create a platform where all traders feel free to speak about real issues that affect us. The net is full of Forex blogs and sites.They are mostly focusing on issues that are not applicable to us in South Africa. Sometimes the information is just so unrealistic to what we face on daily basis. Now let’s talk about these issues here. Over the years that I have been trading, I have noticed that everytime I read Forex related books or articles, they always refer to traders as “him/he”. I always complain in silence and say but I am right here (ahem! hoping that an author out there will finally recognize us and start using words like she/her). Ok, enough about my whining. Shout out to all female traders out there. If you are here reading, Hi.

Ego is mostly associated with men. This is not a total truth though because I am sure we all know that one lady who has an inflated ego. We always say to those women that they have men like-egos (now I am really not sure why we say that when the ego is not only a men issue). Ego has no place in the markets. Let’s take a closer look at how traders get affected by their ego. Below are some of the ego related issues.

I know how this is going to turn out, I have never been wrong about it

Now, this is definitely an ego talking. A person who has an inflated ego is likely to repeat his/her mistakes simply because this person wants to be correct all the time. When he/she gets caught in a bad trade, it is so difficult for this person to take a loss and move on. This person just wants to be right (do not be that person). Unfortunately, as a trader, you are going to be wrong sometimes and when it does happen, your ego shouldn’t stand in the way.

 I have been self-teaching for a year now and I do not need much from a mentor, I just need to brush up my skills and up my game

Just so you know, I took a deep sigh after writing this sub-heading. This is what I hear almost every day. My observation got me thinking that it is mostly men who have this issue (women as well, but not as much as men). Most people who are followers of this blog stumbled upon it while searching for Forex related information (maybe you also stumbled upon here today from Google search). The fact that you are on Google searching for information means that there is something that you need to know or “crack” even after so many YouTube videos and downloading manuals trying to self-teach. When you finally found this blog, the information that you were looking for should be enough to brush up your skills. If after reading here, you still need to talk to me, just throw your ego out of the window and admit that you need help. But it does not always happen like that. Ego always takes over. Get rid of the internal Ego so you can learn.

Ask yourself this question, how many times have you missed out on opportunities to be mentored simply because you allowed your ego to stand in the way? Accepting help does not mean you are a failure. We all need mentors or help from time to time to take us through. Whether it is a paid mentor or someone that you just follow (like you follow on this blog), we all need it.  I am actually about to pay a mentor to teach me a few tricks about blogging. In case you are reading here and you actually do need a mentor, this is now your cue to pick up your phone and call or Whatsapp me on +27 64 510 4132 or +27 76 966 9392.

Sitting in a losing trade that will never come back to positive is somehow linked to an inflated ego because  all you want is to be right 

Think about that day when you made only winning trades from morning till evening. Think about what that did to your confidence, it skyrocketed to another level right? But if you have mastered the art of keeping your trades to yourself, often you have no bruised ego or confidence to worry about.

Very few traders have mastered the art of keeping their trades to themselves (get yourself to that list or stay there if you already have, I intend to stay). When you make a habit of trading and posting your immediate results on social media, you are likely to develop an ego as you get fans who will constantly like and praise your winning trades. When you get it wrong even when you know very well that your fans cannot see what’s going on, you kind of feel like you are letting your fans down (because you have made it part of your daily routine to trade and publish your immediate results). You are also likely to feel pressure and that might lead you to leave a losing trade for longer. Ego (sometimes, you are not even aware that you have developed it) is now talking “you are always right, leave this trade a little bit longer”, at the back of your mind you are already thinking about your fans and your next screenshot ( I know someone out there is going through this, take this unnecessary pressure off your shoulder). Please do not get me wrong here, I am not saying everyone who trades and publishes their immediate results has an ego issue. This is just something I experienced and I hear about it from time to time from my followers. I did mention on my previous post that I treat my Forex account as a business, I stopped doing the publishing thing as soon as I started to see my account as a business. That on its own contributed a lot in my overall outlook of Forex and my consistency (I still make a bad trade from time to time, we all do). Every time I close a trade  (good or bad), I use the time to revisit it, check how it went, check if there is anything that I should have done to get better results (even on profited trades), check what I can improve to do better than I did. And all that information goes straight to my trading journal. Now see why I never find time to publish my immediate results anymore? I try to get rid of all destructions. I am not saying be like Ntombi (I was just sharing).

On my previous post, I mentioned that I treat my Forex account as a business. I stopped doing this publishing thing as soon as I started to see my account as a business. That on its own contributed a lot in my overall outlook of Forex and my consistency (I still make a bad trade from time to time, we all do). Every time I close a trade  (good or bad), I use the time to revisit it, check how it went, check if there is anything that I should have done to get better results (even on profited trades), check what I can improve to do better than I did. And all that information goes straight to my trading journal. Now see why I never find time to publish my immediate results anymore? I try to get rid of all distractions. I am not saying be like Ntombi (I was just sharing).

Thank you for reading. I enjoyed writing this post. It actually felt like I was standing in front of you having a conversation about real issues that we face as traders. I know I said I will keep it short. I always say that even to my mentees, but look at this post now…