Don't forget to check out the new Mind of a Trader blog!http://www.tradingpostfinancial.com/mot-------It is always easy to hesitate, to slow down or to even quit.However, many of us might be looking at situations and being more concerned with the possible outcome instead of the potential growth and learning that we will receive.All great successes start with the first step, the first action and even possibly the first loss. Don't allow yourself to see a small step as a barrier.Let's make the decision to wake up each day and take new steps, no matter how small they may be. the results will lead you to better things.

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Don't forget to check out the new Mind of a Trader blog!http://www.tradingpostfinancial.com/mot-------Creativity allows each of us to approach life with new thoughts and ideas.Everyone is creative. The struggle comes when we do not recognize and accept that we have creativity inside of us and ignore the talent and actions that we are capable of achieving. Successful individuals will always strive to think outside of the box and try something new to enhance their proven methods.In trading we each need to apply our proven strategy with new ideas that are creative. If you change the way you think, you will change the results you receive.

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Don't forget to check out the new Mind of a Trader blog!http://www.tradingpostfinancial.com/mot-------One of the greatest stumbling blocks to achieving success in the important aspects of life is circumstances.We seem to use them to get us off track or keep us from continuing to the end.On the other hand, successful people use circumstances to drive them towards their goals.As a trader, we all need to understand that there will be times when things arise that could easily cause us to make huge errors, become lazy in our decisions or even quit.Instead, let's use the bumps in the road to grow and to become a more powerful and disciplined trader.

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Don't forget to check out the new Mind of a Trader blog!http://www.tradingpostfinancial.com/mot-------Every day we trade we experience challenges that can disrupt our session.These include the market movement, the economic outlook, our emotions, our attitude and so much more. These items can cause us to do many things. including quitting.However, the achiever recognizes all challenges when they arise and then adjusts so as to continue to move forward.For all of us as traders, we need to never allow challenges to keep us from growing and becoming better at what we do.We need to use everything that happens to assist us to learn, grow and achieve.

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Don't forget to check out the new Mind of a Trader blog!http://www.tradingpostfinancial.com/mot-------People all around the world desire to have better things happen in their life.The interesting fact is that many of them have had better things happen; however they just did not stop to enjoy it.As traders, we need to evaluate how we are doing and then if we are doing well. enjoy it. If we are not, then we need to be courageous enough to adjust.Change is good if we believe in ourselves. Belief is the strongest element of any journey. Traders who believe will always perform better than those who do not.

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Don't forget to check out the new Mind of a Trader blog!http://www.tradingpostfinancial.com/mot-------If you could go back in time to the very first day you began trading, would you do anything different?What if you had the knowledge you had right now after months or years of trading experience. Would you make some changes?By analyzing what we do and what results we are getting and then being open to changing our habits or actions, we will always have a better opportunity for enhancing our skills.So, let's go "Back to the Future" and look at what we might want to do if we decide to re-start our trading career.

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To mark this 50th episode of the Mind of a Trader, interact with Steve and leave comments starting this episode on the new MOT blog!http://www.tradingpostfinancial.com/mot-------Winning, Losing, Money and Success are just a few of the many aspects of life that people use to determine the worth of others as well as themselves.In reality, it is not these results, but how we respond to them that will make our journey one that we enjoy and desire to continue doing, or whether we quit.As a trader, the understanding of probabilities and how to make them work for us instead of against us will provide great power for you as you move forward in your trading career.

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How long do we wait to get started when we face something new? Are we being held captive by the desire to have everything perfect before we begin? Do we want to be sure that we will not have any problems or failures before we get going? The only thing that can keep us from experiencing success in trading is to not trade at all. Don't allow yourself to stop trading, or quit using a strategy or never trading with real money because of the numerous mind games that we play waiting for the perfect time. The best time to start is when you ask yourself. "should I start now?"

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Every day that we trade, we need to ensure that we have a specific goal in mind. Without any goals, we will never know if we had a successful trading session or not. Profit is not the only indicator for success. The best traders continue to fine tune their goals and the target gets smaller and smaller. If you aim for the bulls eye, even if you miss, you still end up with a good result, because when you aim small even if you make an error, those errors are also small.

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Fear can be a very powerful emotion, yet for some it can cause disaster and for others it drives them towards new levels of success. As a trader we need to analyze and understand what causes us to be fearful when we trade and how it affects us. Then we need to use that emotion of fear to move us to become a better trader.

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Emotions can be a roller coaster for some and a gentle road for others. Successful traders make a conscious decision that no matter what happens during their trading session they will stay calm and in control. If you truly believe that you can do something, it is amazing how successful you can become. Trading takes belief abd when you finally decide that you CAN do this, you have taken the first step towards growth and higher levels of success.

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All successful traders know what they need to do and then they just do it. Their monetary results are not the focus for them. It is the process and the ability to follow it consistently that keeps them at the top of the trading world. Each of us must learn how to prepare and proceed with direction and conviction. When we do this, we will see continued growth and confidence in our trading sessions.

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Success in all aspects of life seem to follow those who do not try to act like someone else, but rather have a foundation of knowing who they are and act in that manner. Many traders seem to want to act like other traders who have recently had a string of successes instead of being committed to their own strategy and trading style. To be the best we can and have consistent success in trading takes a devotion and passion to learning our strengths and weaknesses and applying our skills to match up with these understandings. Whether you are a risk taker or very conservative, both styles can reap profits as long as the trading matches with that personality. Just be yourself and let the results take occur.

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Some of the greatest successes have been accomplished not long after a person had reached the end of their rope. They had been beat down so much they had their backs to the wall and were ready to quit. but they did not. Trading can easily cause us to get to this point unless we decide that when we hit the most difficult times in our trading is the exact time when we can emerge with more power and passion than every before. Give yourself a push and decide what you truly want to accomplish and then forget about any past difficulties or disasters and fix your eyes forward to what you can do to become better.

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Trading has many ups and downs and can easily cause us to feel defeated. However, defeat can only be disastrous if we classify it as disastrous. Losses, defeats, failures, etc. have been a part of history for every person who has reached high levels of success. The difference with the successful people is that they analyze the situation immediately. Those that tend to fade away are those that wait until tomorrow or maybe never to review and discover why the results were not what they expected. To be successful we must accept every result as a part of our growth and to apply those findings today. Don't wait until tomorrow, because tomorrow may be too late.

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If we have expectations of always winning, we are setting ourselves up for a large amount of disappointment and frustration. The best traders have realized that by truly understanding that trading involves wins and losses and what to do with each result has allowed them to continually grow. We need to search for high probability trades, not 100% probability trades. Analyze. Decide. Execute. Accept. Review. and then do it all over again.

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The best growth and learning comes from seeing our challenges, hurdles and problems as a way to get better at what we do. Most traders have the right strategy and tools, but they have not taken the time to analyze some of the difficult times to see how and what they can learn from these situations to become a better trader. Let's look at 3 steps you can do to ensure that you are on the right path.

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Have you ever tried to hold a beach ball under the water? You might be successful for few moments, however it only takes a small change in how you are holding it to make it burst up out of the water, hit you in the face and splash you all over. Sometimes, we as traders try to hold the beach ball under the water. We want the big success, the big win, the huge profits, etc. in a short timeframe. This rarely happens. What are your current trading traits? What do you expect of yourself? Are you open to new ideas? Are you willing to spend the time needed to build the skills and knowledge base needed to reach your goals?

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Trading success takes discipline, passion and continuous learning just to name a few. One additional area that seems to be evident in all traders that keep enhancing their skills and their profits is the ability to ask good questions of themselves and then to apply the answers immediately. To reach new goals takes new steps that must start now and are not delayed until tomorrow.

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What do you use to measure your success after a trading session? If you are like most, your success or failure will be determined by the amount of profit you made or lost. If that is what you do, you are missing out on one of the greatest aspects of your growth. We all need to be more than just disciplined with our trading tools; we need to be devoted to trading. Eliminate greed and you will enhance your skills faster.

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If you attempt a challenge without a safety net, you have the possibility of serious catastrophe if you do not receive the results you expected. In trading, we strive to make high probability trades, however the market can turn against our well planned execution. If we do not have a safety net in place, we can experience an "Account Blow Out". The successful trader always plans properly for all possibilities so that they will not be taken out of the game and lose the opportunity to trade again.

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History has recorded many great winning streaks. Whether they were made in business, team sports, individual sports or other areas, they all had some common characteristics. They had a strong foundation, a belief in what they were doing and they took it one step at a time. In trading, we can develop a winning streak if we decide to not always categorize winning with profits. Success brings about more success, however if we decide we are a failure, then failure can also bring about more failure.

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The Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Olympics was an amazing story. That hockey team did not just win because they were good. They won because after a lot of hard work and frustration, they all realized that they had to do something different than everyone. They had to expect nothing but the best!. Through training and belief, they accomplished what many said could not be done. A successful trader can accomplish what many say cannot be done if they decide to accept nothing but the best from themselves.

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The most successful people in any area of life seem to do what most others also do, but then they do "A Little Bit More". In trading, many of our friends and associates who do not trade will try and convince us to quit. This is mainly because they have found that they cannot do what you do. Don't allow this to change your goals. Keep on doing what it takes.

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Our mental attitude is a powerful force that we need to harness. If we will dedicate ourselves to being more aware of where our mindset is each day, practice and study our trading method and continually participate in the mentoring opportunities that we have available, each of us will enhance our skills and performance in trading.

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For each of us to continue to enhance our trading skills we need to remain focused on our commitments to both the technical and mental side of trading. When you do this, you will experience a clear picture of continued growth in your trading success.

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The way that we approach our trading has a major impact on the potential success that we can achieve? Don't allow the critics in your world to cause you to quit.

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If you develop a solid trading plan and produce consistent results in a demo account, then make sure you have a psychology plan before you enter into trading with real money.

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We all have challenging times in trading. At this point it is easy to decide to change direction and it could be a terrible decision. We need to be persistent and committed through the good times and the challenging times so that we become better every day.

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Sometimes the simplest thoughts and ideas can help us to improve our trading proficiency. Here are 5 basic principles that will help you to unlock some doors that might be keeping you from improving.

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Every trader wants to make a profit. However, that is not the most important factor. To be successful, you need to focus like a laser beam on one aspect of your process and then the results will take care of themselves. Focus on the small things and the large things will occur.

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For anyone to be successful when they move into a new phase of any program, they must review what they have done in the past and then refine these actions so that they will continue to grow. In this New Year, review your past trading actions and results and then refine and plan for a new year of growth and success.

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Great photographers never take a picture until everything is set up correctly and the subject is in focus. If they have not analyzed the situation before taking the picture, their results will not be successful. Traders need to follow the same steps. Your mind must be in focus and we must have a solid foundation in place before we execute a trade or else we will not have a high chance for success.

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Having a positive expectancy does not mean that you must be 100% successful on every trade. You do not need to set a goal to never have a losing trade. To be truly successful, you need to have a realistic understanding of what successful results are and how to prepare for them.

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When we were young, we heard the phrase, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." In some ways this is true, but in reality if we fill our minds with negative words about ourselves, we may start to believe it. We all make mistakes in trading as well as in life, but let's not allow that to cause us to believe that we are worthless.

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As in all professions, the most successful individuals always check their fundamentals to be sure that they are working on a solid foundation. The Forex trader needs to do a quick check to see if they are following the basic steps that can enhance their potential success.

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If we are to be successful in any area of life, we need to have commitment. If we approach trading like a sideline or something to do when we have a few extra moments, we are asking for disaster. If you want to be successful in trading you need a solid plan.

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What do you do when you approach a traffic light? Do you slow down, keep going or speed up? The reason behind your actions! may also impact the way you approach your trading.

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Our weakest link does not need to be a detriment to our success, but instead should be our strongest asset if we ensure that we know what it is and how to utilize it. The smallest steps we make can have the biggest impact on our success.

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Think about this..."The longest distance between any 2 points is the shortcut". In today's world each of us are constantly pushed to get to the top as quickly as we can no matter what the cost might be. To reach and maintain a successful level of trading or any other endeavor takes planning, time and commitment.

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A lot of statistics are published about the number of traders that are 'successful' even though we don't always receive their definition of successful. Whether it is 70% or 95% of new traders that are said to lose all of their capital in the first 30-60 days, the real question is WHY?? In almost every case that I hear about when a person states that they quit trading because they lost all of their money in the first 30-60 days so they got discouraged and said that trading was not for them, these individuals attempted to move too fast when they started. They had acquired very little, if any, type of training and then jumped into a live account without any direction or plan. Anyone who steps into the trading world (or any endeavor) without training to acquire the skills needed to approach the new program is setting themselves up for a very challenging situation and generally more failures than successes. You can approach a new situation in life at warp speed and take the consequences or at the speed of a turtle and build your skills and experience so as to eventually acquire warp speed movement, but with turtle-like results, which is what the turtle always experienced when he raced the rabbit..... Success!!

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Why do you trade? This might sound like an easy question, however many of us do not really know the answer. Once we discover our true reason for trading, then there are many other questions that will help us become a better trader. If we will take the time to ask ourselves why we trade, what are our goals, what areas do we have struggles, what are my commitements...and then answer them honestly, we will begin to grow as a trader. Any successful endeavor takes planning and commitment. The planning begins with your questions...! and answers.

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Do you know where you are going when you begin a trading session? Do you know what you are going to trade and even more important than that... why you are trading? Everyone has a GPS inside of them and once you apply that to 3 simple steps of commitment everytime you trade, you will increase your levels of proficiency and success.

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As a trader we all face many hills that look so difficult to climb that we possibly begin thinking, " I can't make it". If we allow fear to paralyze us because of a couple of mistakes that have happened, then we are missing a great opportunity to become a better trader. Let's explore how we can change our thoughts to the positive message of "I Know I Can... I Know I Can!"

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What is your definition of a mistake? If it is a losing trade, then you might possibly be missing out on one of the most important items that successful traders use to enhance their profitability.

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Do you have a plan for trading? If not, then how do you expect to get the results you desire. I want to share with you my 10 Commandments of Trading which can set a strong foundation for you to be more decisive, committed and successful every time you trade.

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If we begin our trading session by visualizing ourself as a winner, we are way ahead of most traders. This does not mean that we visualize that we will win evry trade, but to be realistic and expect to have winning trades, but also accept that a certain amount of trades will result in a loss. You must know how many losses need to occur before you decide to stop your trading session and make an adjustment.

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There are many ways to trade and being able to take risk is an important factor. Being too much of a risk taker can be disastrous, but being too cautious can also leave you out of the profit picture. So how do you handle the aspect of risk so that you get the most out of your trading session?

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