Trading Goals Explained

Have you ever wondered why you don't progress in your trading or life in general? Did you ever look at the goals you set for yourself? At the trading goals you set? Do you even set goals?

Trading goals

So if you don't set trading goals for yourself, start straight away. 'Knowing what you want' in your mind is not good enough. You might as well have no goals, because it's way too susceptible to the mood of the day. If you however already have goals, write down your goals, then have a serious look at them.

Different kinds of trading goals

There are different kind of goals you need to set for yourself. Not just the ones that you want to reach this year and the ones you want to reach next year, five years from now and 10/15/30 years from now. You also need to think of trading goals that are small and relatively easy, ones that seem hard but doable and finally trading goals that seem almost impossible to achieve.

Small achievements are like building blocks amid the bigger picture or bigger goals. They make you move forward and tell you you're moving in the right direction. Or - very much like pivot points - telling you that you need to change course a little bit. The bigger, harder goals, actually make you realise how your life is improving - feels good, right? And the goals that seem impossible to achieve push you to work harder, because what if you can actually reach that?

Goals help you figure out what you really want

If you don't set goals, then how do you know what you truly want in the first place? Your goals will be different every week, even if you think they are all set in your head. A losing trade or a big winner will affect the way you see your goals if they are just saved on your brain's hard drive. Writing them down will make sure you don't lose focus of the bigger picture.

Constantly ask yourself what you really want and then compare it to your goal. If this consistently doesn't match to your trading goal, you set the wrong trading goal for yourself. This is a great introspection and self-reflection exercise that can really teach you what kind of trader you want to be.

Trading goals help you re-evaluate

Without concrete trading goals, there is not concrete hunger for achievement and also no way to look back and re-evaluate the path you took. That means there is no way to make adjustments if you fail. It can be extremely humbling to look back at a goal you set for yourself 4 years ago and realising that you wanted to achieve way more than you did. It's a sign that whatever you're doing is not working and you need to make some changes.

Final words

Fantasizing about achieving your goal is not a good thing to do. For your brain that’s like having dessert before the main course and it affects your motivation. Rather think about what preparations you have to make for a challenge as this will more likely to lead to success than already imagining the victory.
Setting goals can be hard at times and it's good if you can share them with your peers. The best thing, however, is to have them looked over by your mentor. Knowing how you trade and your progress so far, he is probably better able than you are, to assess if your goals are set right.

#UrbanForex - Be conscious of your trading!