"But I will not make enough money!" The trader pleaded with me to "allow her to take a larger trade size." She didn't need permission from me but she was asking anyway. Why? The only reason she was asking is because she felt nervous about it. She had a wild experience, but more on that in a moment.
Traders feel nervous for lots of reasons. But the worst kind of worry (after worrying about our children, haha) is worrying that our trade is moving against us. We lay awake at night obsessing about it. It turns us into zombie traders.
Other traders don't look bothered at all. Maybe they have super powers. Maybe they are magical creatures. Or just maybe, they are trading a smaller trade size and don't have to worry if the trade is a loser.
In fact, the best traders I know EXPECT their trades to look bad for a while. They EXPECT that the trade will look horrible, maybe right after they take it. They are not trying to be right. They take at least one step back. The trades don't have to be winners right from the start. Some of these traders actually place a trade just to see how the market reacts, and then they add trades from there, or get out entirely.
Keep your trade size small. But will you make any money?
In fact, it's the best way to make money. Instead of trying to make a lot of money on this trade, try and make a lot of money over the next 7 years of trading. That's right. Get a much longer perspective.
You have to want this, though. You have to want to be in it in for a long time. You have to want to be successful as opposed to getting your fix. I am not saying this is easy. Not even for me. But it is the magical thing that happens to traders right before they start making a ton of money: they reduce their trade size, live through the hard times, and never get worried about it again. The moment you don't worry about something is the moment you get control over that thing.
What happened to my friend?
She started making 500-1,000 pips every month. And she never looked back. I haven't heard from her directly since a seminar in Santa Monica almost 10 years ago. But I do hear from others that she is still going strong, day after day, and never worries.
