Do athlete swimmers win Olympic medals by jumping out of their bed and into the pool?
Heck no!
They put in their laps, study their tapes, and do warm-ups before the starting pistol is fired.
This is exactly what traders are supposed to do. Exactly.
Not the getting into a tight swimwear part, but the preparation part.
With real money on the line, you should do all you can to tilt the odds in your favor even before you enter a trade. This includes having a pre-trading routine.
For starters, you’ll want to review previous price action. If you know where price has been, you’ll have a better idea of the current market themes and where price will likely go.
You’ll also want to read all you can about the markets and the asset you’re trading.
Whether it’s Twitter, financial blogs, WallStreetBets, you gotta know what’s going on so you don’t get blindsided by economic data releases or a Joe Rogan podcast.
Marking key technical levels is also a solid habit to form. I mean, how else will you know when an asset is developing chart patterns or is near a significant buy and sell zone?
If you haven’t already, you should also consider starting a pre-trading ritual. My BFF Rafa says he likes rituals like placing two water bottles in specific positions before a match because he says, “when I do it, it means I’m focused.”
Let’s all be like Nadal. It can be as simple as meditating for five minutes, or as complex as eating eggs three ways and then watering your indoor plants according to height, but establishing a pre-trading ritual helps get you in a comfortable and in a “let’s do this!” trading mode.
Last but not least habit I can recommend is to visualize your trading day.
Think about all the possible scenarios that might happen. What will you do if price breaks your trend line support without a fundamental catalyst? What if the SEC goes after NFTs? What if $AMC jumps when you’ve only bought half of your target capital allocation?
When you’ve envisioned how you should react to market scenarios, you’ll be less likely to make emotional decisions when they do happen.
Remember that as a trader, it’s your job to always be prepared. Great traders do all the dirty work before, during, and after trading hours – that is why they are consistently profitable.
