You must have probably heard about this name – “Rajinikanth.”
Yes, he is an actor from Tamil Nadu, and he is well known across India. He has had the title “Superstar” for the past 30+ years in the Tamil Movie Industry.
And nobody else is anywhere near him in achieving the level of success he has in Tamil Nadu. In his name, he had acted in 150+ movies, most of which are blockbusters. He has a huge fan base worldwide. Whenever his films are released, they’re celebrated like a festival around the world.
Having come from Bengaluru to Tamil Nadu to act in movies, he hailed from a not-so-rich background. He worked as a bus conductor during the early part of his career.
So what caused a person like this to dominate a movie industry spanning four decades?
Was it hard work?
Was it luck?
Was it talent?
He might have had so many traits within him that led him to this height. However, among all of his traits, one thing stands out.
It’s called Consistency.
What Consistency did he maintain?
Regardless of the director he worked with, he would appear in the shooting spot on time every day. The day he went late to the shooting spot can be counted with one hand. Despite having achieved tremendous success, this level of dedication caused him to stay at that level for a long time.
In the early days of his acting career, he showed up on time.
During the middle stage of his career, he showed up on time.
Even now, at 70+ age. He goes with the attitude of showing up on time.
It goes without saying that if you or I want to become successful in trading or any field, we’ve to show up on time every day consistently.
If yesterday was a profitable day, we’ve to show up today to trade. If yesterday was a losing day, we’ve to show up today to trade.
That’s how a profitable trader thinks about the profession and can thus maintain a sense of success.
If you are starting in trading or struggling to become a profitable trader, keep in mind that you’ve to show up each day to trade. But how can you show up daily when your trading results are not so good?
There is always a feeling of looking crap, feeling demotivated. Thoughts of quitting. Inferiority, and so on, when you look at your trading statements.
Is there a way to come out of this struggling phase and live as a consistently profitable trader?
Yes, there is a way out. And it’s through understanding the stages a trader goes through.
This article will explore the three stages a trader goes through as they set out to become a consistently profitable trader.
Stage 1: Consistently Losing Money Trader
Stage 2: Consistently Break-Even Trader
Stage 3: Consistently Profitable Trader
Stage 1: Consistently Losing Money Trader
Everyone starts at this stage. It’s like you’ve just come into the world and are beginning to learn how to crawl. And this stage goes like this.
You’re not clear about what to do, how to do and when to do it. You take the trades based on gut feel, news, tips, and social media. Your trade entries and exits don’t have a plan.
You’re just going without any sense of direction. And end up losing money consistently.
Tired of going this route, you stand with two choices.
Choice 1: I can’t take the losses anymore. I’m clueless. None of the strategies I came across and implemented is not working. It is emotionally painful. I Quit.
Choice 2: I understand that I’m taking this profession freely and approaching it casually. It’s time for me to take the situation seriously about becoming a profitable trader.
Most people go with choice 1. But few people select choice 2. Because they know that if they can figure it out, they can become a profitable trader, the rewards are excellent.
Now, around this time, you’ll decide and go through many YouTube videos and books and keep learning about the various ways the trading world “really” functions.
Then you understand that the real problem is “You.”
It’s not the market.
It’s not the government.
It’s not the broker.
It’s not the snake oil vendor tips.
You understand that all you need to have is a profitable trading method and the ability to execute the plan in the market every time.
After spending a few months in this stage, you develop a method and deploy it in the market. Around this is the time when you enter the next stage– “Consistently Break-Even Trader.”
Stage 2: Consistently Break-Even Trader
In this next stage, you’re neither making money nor losing money, which you experienced in the first stage.
You’ve got a method.
Now you know when to enter and when to exit.
Sometimes, you miss a trade due to fear – especially if your last few trades are losing trades. Sometimes you book a profit soon, despite your method telling you that it’s not the time to book a profit.
You stay in this phase for a couple of months, and now you understand that it’s not the method that gives profit. But instead, the person who trades the technique.
You can give an extremely profitable method to anyone. Still, no one will be able to follow the rules and earn money.
Do you know why?
Because in the event of a few consecutive losses, they doubt the method.
Their mind/ego gets in the way. And it convinces them to look for another “holy grail method.”
When it is truth, the problem is the mind itself.
That’s where you enter into the psychology part of trading—understanding the role of your personality in fine-tuning your trading method. That’s precisely the time you’re stepping into the stage of turning yourself into a Consistently Profitable Trader.
Stage 3: Consistently Profitable Trader
You might be thinking that a Consistently Profitable Trader is a person who earns money from his trading consistently.
And that’s true.
But there is an important factor that comes into play here.
There is a big difference between a trader who uses a profitable method but it doesn’t suit his personality and a trader who uses a profitable strategy that does fit his personality.
And that’s the reason why many traders fail. They don’t spend time developing a trading method that suits their personality.
On the other hand, successful traders are well aware that they need to structure a method that they can execute day in and day out.
For instance, some traders are not interested in “day trading” – because it requires fast action during live market hours. If these people enter “day trading,” and even if they somehow have a profitable trading method, they won’t be able to trade it. Because they are not a “match” to become a “day trader.”
Maybe he is a very relaxed person, and he takes plenty of time to make decisions. His strength might lie in Swing trading, which is nothing but holding a trading position for a few days to a few weeks. Then, he has to fine-tune his trading rules to match swing trading.
The real goal for most traders is to have a method or trading plan they are comfortable executing.
Once the trading method matches the personality of the person who is trading that method, it becomes easy to execute the trades consistently.
Remember, consistent profit is simply a by-product of consistently executing the trading rules (entry/exit). And one can only execute the trading rules consistently when the person is comfortable with those rules.
So you get the picture.
You’ve to learn a method that suits your mindset and personality, and then execute it. That’ll yield excellent results in the long run.
All successful traders have adopted this formula, and they ended up as winning traders.
Summary
So what’s the one action you can do today?
Identify yourself with which stage you belong to now. And continue to show up consistently daily, regardless of which stage you’re in now.
Are you a consistently losing trader?—then show up daily.
Take the time to think about this profession seriously. Invest time in learning, reading books, and understanding what this profession is all about.
You’ll need to have the mindset first – a professional mindset. That you’re here to treat this as a business, and you commit yourself to it. That’s your first step.
Are you a consistent Break-even trader?—then show up daily.
Then you must understand the reason you’re not earning good money from the market because of the method. But it’s because of you who is executing those rules in the market. Take the time to understand your mind, personality, strengths, and weaknesses and figure out a trading method that matches you. Then deploy it in the market.
Are you a consistently Profitable trader?—then show up daily.
Once you’ve found the profitable trading method that matches your personality, then it’s simply a matter of showing up daily and executing those trades. You now understand that earning money is simply about executing the rules day in and day out.
You follow it seriously. And a decade later, you’ll be hailed as the “Trading Superstar” among your friends/society/trading forums/social media. Because just like Rajinikanth, you’re committed to “Show up daily. On-time. Every time”
