Throughout my career as an educator in the field of Technical Analysis and foreign exchange, I have met thousands of traders all over the world.

Some are highly educated and they thrive in the field of their expertise, some are specialized in the area of their job whereas others are looking for an opportunity to make a quick buck in the business of foreign exchange.

I have to admit that most of them share a few characteristics: ambition, self-confidence, determination, and a willingness to learn the secrets of the trade.

So far so good. After a few trades, these characteristics change drastically. They realize that the game, I always call trading a game, is not that easy. Ambition is not the only ingredient needed. Knowledge is imperative. Confidence is necessary. Determination is required but ego is a “killer”. Never forget DISCIPLINE.

It is emotions that distinguish a human being from a machine. It is discipline that distinguishes manual trading from automated trading.

In both cases, it is a human being that constructs the trading system. The mere difference lies in the execution. When the trading system dictates “close the losing position now” it is doubtful whether the human being, the trader, will do that. When the trading system dictates that profit should be taken now it is very doubtful that the human being will obey.

I hope my point is very clear.
I have had discussions with fund managers about this topic for hours. In the beginning, they all resist admitting it but eventually, they all drop their ego and accept that DISCIPLINE is perhaps the most important ingredient in this business.

Throughout my seminars, I teach my own professional trading system along with risk management rules. I also mention the importance of discipline through stories, fables, and real-life stories. Unfortunately, there is no way to teach discipline in trading the markets.

The fact is, that the absence of discipline will ruin one’s trading account.
Only automated trading guarantees that DISCIPLINE is in place.
Of course, choosing an automated system is another interesting question and one that we can address in another post.