Thinking back to prop shops, although they had their drawbacks the “sink or swim” method of auditioning new recruits for the big stage did act as a big motivation to those who had a genuine desire to succeed. Fail and you lose your job, but succeed and you’ve got a great chance of making it. But like footballers (soccer players), retail traders don’t always have this “motivator”.

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2. I got to thinking about motivation in
sport and the similarities of the issues
traders face. Potentially one of the
biggest issues a retail trader faces is
finding the motivation to succeed.

3. I’m not talking about the motivation to
learn and try to do the right things in
order to succeed – and many would
immediately discount themselves from
this equation – I’m talking about the
sheer determination to be successful
and to not fail.

4. I mean the drive that takes you to the
next level, beyond your emotional
comfort zone and almost heightens
your reactions somehow. Some people
may find they have this fight within
them naturally, but for many others it’s
not as simple as that.

5. Thinking back to prop shops and the
“sink or swim” method of auditioning
new recruits for the big stage did act
as a big motivation to those who had a
genuine desire to succeed. Fail and
you lose your job, but succeed and
you’ve got a great chance of making it.

6. But like footballers (soccer players),
retail traders don’t always have this
“motivator”. A typical footballer
playing top level (or even some of the
lower leagues) is very talented. They
probably would like to be hugely
successful and win titles.

7. But if they aren’t, they’re still going to
be paid extremely well. They’re still
going to be in with a shout of
achieving success one day. They’re still
going to be comfortable.

8. And you see so many players like this
who you know have the talent and
ability to be hugely successful yet they
don’t get there.

9. So what makes the difference with the
ones who do succeed if there’s no fear
factor driving them forward?

10. Well I don’t believe it’s something that
is simple and happens overnight for
starters. This is one of the reasons you
see certain soccer teams (and other
sports) always managing to be
competitive.

11. True, the top teams tend to have the
best players. But the additional talent
that these teams have rarely accounts
for the greater level of performance
that they manage to maintain.

12. If it were purely based on talent,
would you ever see a team of
superstars fall from grace?

13. Would you ever see a relatively lowly
team go out and cause an upset by
beating a top team?
But you do see these things happen.

14. I think what really creates the
“hunger” you see in some players
comes down to a combination of
psychological factors built upon skills
and results.

15. I’ll call it a recipe of the factors to
success that a soccer team must have
to some extent in order to develop
success.

16. Each ingredient may be good on its
own but you need a little bit of
everything to make it a great dish. And
I believe that the same principles can
work for the retail trader who is also
perpetually in their comfort zone.

17. 1. Empowerment – they are given the
appropriate tools and instructions that
they believe they can succeed with.

18. 2. Focus on attainable targets – they
are told to take things one game at a
time and to focus on the present.

19. 3. Get psyched up – technical and
mental ability are both important, but
a strong emotional drive can be a
powerful ally.

20. 4. Confidence and belief - with results,
they gain belief and go on multiple
game winning runs.

21. 5. Mental resilience - the best teams
keep these runs up because they have
built up such belief and confidence
that their mind-set is resilient to
setbacks.

22. Without one or more of these factors,
you could see a team go on a good
run. It’s the same thing with traders
and winning streaks.

23. But it’s when things don’t go quite
according to plan that a trader or a
footballer with an incomplete mindset will struggle to regain composure
and form.

24. They will be inconsistent in their
application and their results.

25. Now there is just one additional factor
involved in a footballer’s motivation
that’s absent in the world of retail
trading.

26. A footballer usually wants to play – so
they have to meet a minimum
standard in order to do so. Although
it’s not quite the same as the “sink or
swim” prop shop model, it does
provide a motivation to perform.

27. Not only that, but as a measure of
performance they are compared with
a peer group of other footballers. So
as a footballer or a prop trader, there
is a degree of natural competition
within a group.

28. With retail trading, this isn’t naturally
present.

29. So finding a group of like-minded and
open traders who are willing to share
and compete could be a crucial spark
to really get you going.

30. Whenever we read about the
psychological aspects of trading, the
subject are usually focused on topics
with fear at their roots.

31. But drive is usually where most retail
traders are lacking as it rarely exists by
default in this environment.

32. If you take the time to cultivate an
environment and mind-set where
drive and determination have the
chance to flourish, you’ll give yourself
a competitive edge over other traders.