Are Your Trading Expectations Setting You Up For Failure?

In today’s episode, our discussion is going to be focused on expectations that new traders have about trading, and more specifically, how unrealistic expectations can be extremely toxic for your journey.  If you’re serious about becoming a trader, it’s wise to understand the nature of the beast now rather than learning it the hard way later. Unrealistic expectations are one of the major catalysts that lead to emotional trading and ultimately a lot of frustration with trading - in fact, the majority of mistakes you will make in your trading career will be a result of expectations that are misaligned with the reality of the markets. Since you are here with us today, our goal is to set the record straight and provide you with a dose of the realities of trading so that you can better manage your expectations in order to give yourself the best chance of finding sustained success!  So what are expectations and why can unrealistic expectations be dangerous?  An expectation is a strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future Expectations also bring about emotional highs and lows; meaning that you feel good when your expectations are realized, but you will feel disappointed when your expectations don’t come to fruition When emotions creep into your trading, you become vulnerable to making emotional decisions, which is what can really harm your account Unrealistic expectations are the catalysts that lead to most of the mistakes you will make as a trader These expectations are often the result of buying into online marketing about trading and how it possible to master this craft and attain riches seemingly overnight with a $100 trading account.  This marketing leads people to have a mistaken perception of what successful trading really requires and starts you off on the wrong path for the journey you are about to embark on If you expect to be perfect in your trading or even to be consistently profitable within a short period of time, then you are most likely going to be let down The interesting thing to note here is that when your expectations are unrealistic, you will struggle with trading because at a subconscious level, your monkey brain will realize that reaching those expectations is likely to not happen and your mind will go into “fight or flight mode” at which point, your decisions will be made on autopilot without your control.  This is the real danger of unrealistic expectations! The fact that you will sabotage your own plans and rules when things don’t go the way you expect them to There are generally two types of “expectations” as it relates to trading :  Expectations you have about trading  Expectations you have when actually trading  Here are some examples of each type: Common unrealistic expectations about trading  Expecting to flip a $1k account into a million dollars within a year  Expecting to make money from the first week of trading  Expecting to be able to make money without any training and practice Expecting an easy ride without any work (trading is easy money)  Expecting to make more profits by spending more time in the markets Common unrealistic expectations when you are actually trading  Expecting to never lose a single trade  Expecting each trade to be a home run  Expecting to catch the tops and bottoms with every trade  Expecting to never take any heat on trades  Do You Have Unrealistic Expectations About Trading?  In this next section of the show, we are going to ask you some questions that we want you to be brutally honest with yourself in order to determine whether your existing expectations are realistic or not.  If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then your current expectations about trading are likely unrealistic and it’s time for a reality check: Are you taking too many trades or re-entering the market after taking a loss out of anger and frustration? Do you for