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NIAL FULLER Nial Fuller
Professional Trader, Author & Coach

5 New Year’s Trading Resolutions For 2013

4x6Here we are at year’s end again, and it’s time to stop trading for a bit and reflect on our past year’s trading performance. This means it’s time to get honest with yourself…how did you fare last year in the markets? Can you honestly say you put forth your best effort at being a disciplined and logical trader or did you behave more like someone on a 1 year gambling binge in Las Vegas? Either way, it’s time to get ready for the New Year and take advantage of the psychological “clean slate” that comes with it. Every trader knows their main weaknesses, so when writing our New Year’s trading resolutions and affirmations, don’t be afraid to focus on your weak points and bring them to the surface. Don’t sugar-coat this; everyone has weaknesses when it comes to trading and if you don’t face them head-on you will never strengthen them. Here are 5 trading resolutions for 2013 to get you started; you can add some more of your own to give yourself a nice list of achievable trading goals for the New Year:

1)  I will aim to be a better person in general

“I will become a better all-around person and this will directly benefit my trading.”

I’ll admit it, this first point isn’t just related to trading, it applies to life in general; it could apply to relationships, your job, business, or even to your studies if you’re a student. One reason why most people don’t achieve their New Year’s resolutions is because they get bogged down doing things that are really just a waste of time. Many people have a hard time making efficient and effective use of their time. Many people struggle when it comes to seeing things through from start to finish, especially when it comes to things they aren’t necessarily “forced” to do like when you’re at work and your boss is watching you.

Things such as reading a book from cover to cover, planning and going on a holiday, spending more time with the kids or just keeping the house clean can end up being things that rarely get accomplished for many people. You need to promise yourself that you will improve yourself this year by getting all the “little things” done that you know you could accomplish if you just stopped wasting time on Facebook or watching too much T.V. Once you begin to get everything done in your life on time, it will automatically reinforce a lot of positivity in your life and this will naturally be reflected in your trading results. I want you to pick maybe 5 core aspects of your life or personality that you want to tweak and improve this year and really work on them. Once you begin to get all these basic / core personality traits and daily habits in-line, your trading will be much more likely to “click” into place and you’ll have a clearer conscious and more motivation.

The secret to becoming a better person and trader is to keep the flow of positive thinking and positive habits going…it can be difficult to get back into the gym regularly or back filling out your trading journal regularly, but it’s simply “getting up on the horse” that is usually the hardest part. Once you get going on the right track you start to develop positive habits, and these habits will reinforce themselves in your brain the more you stick with them, creating confidence and making it more likely that you continue to stay on track and get closer to your trading goals or other life goals.

2) I will stick with my trading method

“In 2013 I am going to stick with price action trading and not deviate from this method.”

Jumping from method to method or system to system is a big reason many traders struggle to make money in the markets. You need to commit to one method this year and stick with it, through the good times and bad. Commit yourself to 12 months of continued study of price action trading, follow the teachings in my trading course and daily commentary and fine-tune your own personal price action trading skill. You need to give it a real crack, even in the face of hardship, account draw downs or low confidence…you have to commit to getting back up on the “horse” and keep going. Every method or system is going to have losing trades…it’s part of trading, you can’t give up every time you have two or three losers in a row.

One proven method that will help you stick to price action trading is to decide to focus on one price action setup at a time and really master it. If you’re a new or struggling price action trader you should read my article from last week on How to Profit with Price Action and follow what I say in it. An excellent New Year’s resolution to get your trading on the right track would be to become a “specialist” of one price action setup at a time. Even if it takes you all of 2013 to accomplish this, you have to ask yourself if that would be an improvement over your 2012 trading performance or not, I’m willing to bet it would be.

3) I will limit my trading screen time to 1 hour per day

“I’m aware that the more I look at my charts the more likely I am to make bad trading decisions”

Most losing traders tend to spend way too much time looking at their charts, trying to find trades and reading economic news. If you take my simplified approach to analyzing and trading the markets with price action on higher time frames, you’ll be able to quickly scan the markets for your price action setups, you’ll save a lot of time and money by not over-trading and hopefully increase your win rate.

Your resolution could be to limit screen time to 1 hour per day, you can divide up that hour however you choose; two 30 minute sessions or four 15 minute sessions, etc. Whilst screen time is essential for learning how to trade, too much of it can be counter-productive afterwards, and spending increasing amounts of time analyzing your charts will eventually “hypnotize” you into finding trades that aren’t really valid instances of your trading edge.

Limiting your screen time like this will eliminate most second-guessing and allow you to make cleaner and crisper trading decisions. It will also leave you more time to do other stuff like spend time with your family or focus more on your day job. It’s ironic that it tends to be the people who spend the least amount of time watching the markets tend to make the most money, at least that’s the feedback I’ve got from dealing with over 8,000 traders since 2008.

4) I will become a “minimalist” thinker

“I will think less, I will analyze less, I will do less in all aspects of my trading; I will aim to keep it simple”

Minimalism is like its own religion for some people; they choose to live as minimalists, while this lifestyle won’t be practical for everyone, we definitely need to trade as minimalists…This includes removing indicators and “clutter” from your charts which only clouds decision making, and generally just taking a “minimalist” approach in all aspects of your trading. We want to abide by a basic set of principles and logic that does not complicate the trading process, price action trading fits that mold perfectly.

I recently wrote an article about my journey of becoming a minimalist in all aspects of my life, and I  actually took the idea from the way that I trade; minimally. It seems as though humans have an innate tendency to over-complicate things, from relationships to trading this seems to be the case. Thus, in 2013 one of your main resolutions should be to become a “minimalist trader”. You can do this by sticking to the simple price action trading strategies that I teach, higher time frame trading, and reducing the amount of time you actually focus on analyzing and trading the markets. This minimalist trading approach is something that dramatically improved my personal trading performance and later my everyday life as I got rid of unnecessary possessions and ‘streamlined’ my life.

5) I will read my daily trading affirmations

“I have written my daily trading affirmations and I will read them to myself each morning and night”

What’s a trading affirmation you ask? I actually wrote a good article on this earlier this year, check it out here: Daily trading affirmations. You might want to use some of the affirmations in that article as well as some of your own and write out your own daily trading affirmations list that you read every day before you trade.

Reading affirmations to yourself each day before you look at the markets can be an excellent way to keep you focused and on-track. A big part of becoming a successful trader is just remembering that trading is a marathon not a sprint, and to act accordingly. It can be very easy to fall off the right track and start “trading like a machine gunner”, so having a daily reminder to yourself of what you need to do to achieve success, can be a big help.

So how do I accomplish my 2013 trading resolutions?

Whilst the title of this article might be “New Year’s” Trading Resolutions, it might have been better to title it “Daily” Trading Resolutions, because let’s face it, a year is a hell of a long time. The above points might seem like a small mountain for you to conquer, but to be honest, you shouldn’t aim to accomplish them all on January 1st. You should take the month of January to get everything ironed out; write down your trading goals, chop them up into bite size pieces that you can easily accomplish and workout all the details of your trading plan. You’ve probably been trading on the back of some very bad habits for the last year or longer, so those bad habits are going to take some time and conscious effort on your behalf to get rid of. You need to map out your trading plan for 2013 in January, take some time over the next month and actually figure out what you need to do to accomplish your trading goals this year. If you’re serious about this article guys, get out a pen and paper and write out a list of “promises” to yourself and sign it, hell laminate the thing and tape it to your bathroom door if you have to…whatever it takes so that you see it and read it every day!

Your longer-term goal of becoming a consistently profitable trader will only be achieved if you do the right things each day, week and month. That means doing all the things we’ve discussed so far like focusing on one setup at a time and really mastering it, recording all trades in your trading journal and generally just being organized and disciplined in your trading approach. Most traders get too overwhelmed with all this stuff and so they sort of jut “give up” before they even get started because it seems easier to just gamble their money in the markets and get lucky. I can promise you that if you just take it one day at a time and work on overcoming  your own temptations of trading when you know you shouldn’t and risking more than you know you should, at year’s end all of those days and months of behaving disciplined and logically will add up to a consistent and profitable year.

Before I sign off today, let me just say it’s been a pleasure writing these articles for all my followers this past year and I sincerely hope I have helped many of you. I look forward to helping you guys even more in 2013 and I’ve got some exciting things planned for members and non-members alike.

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Nial Fuller

About Nial Fuller

is a Professional Trader, Investor & Author who is considered ‘The Authority’ on Price Action Trading. His blog is read by over 200,000+ followers and he has taught 25,000+ students since 2008. In 2016, Nial won the Million Dollar Trader Competition. Checkout Nial's Professional Trading Course here.
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  1. Leon

    thank you so much you are my coach.

    Reply
  2. donald robert

    dear Nial,
    am very happy to be part of ur training site, since i come across this site my seal to continue in the market develop. I have lost a lot of money in the market bcos not knowing what to do especially moving from low time frame to a high time frame which aloud me to trade with peace of mind. Nial, a gift of gold is expensive, a gift of money is appreciated,but the gift of being alive in this season is priceless. only the living celebrate it, happy new year. God bless you & ur family.

    Reply
  3. Michal

    Great article as always, I have the bathroom door already cluttered with many reminders and now I will add up one more :) Happy New Year to all

    Reply
  4. Alaa Alhaiki

    I have to thank u for more than one year, u teach me HOW I should make a good trading mindset, never ever I see one leader like u, u honestly learn us How to be a positive people before be a professional trader.

    Happy New Year, thanks again and again.
    God will reward u.

    Reply
  5. Tim

    A great article to get me started for the year! Thanks again Nial.. You should run for prime minister this year. :)

    Reply
  6. JohnnyWebFoot

    This is the only Forex “advice” site I consistently return to and actually trust for real world wisdom. Have a great trading year in 2013 :)

    Reply
  7. arun

    thanks a lot nial, now i am very confident and energetic, and realized my responsibilities to design, trade plan, goals, steps to achieve those goals,,really i wont forget you in my lifetime,,thanks a lot, happy new year

    Reply
  8. s.bala

    Excellent article for New Year 2013.
    I have benefit a lot from your articles. Thanks

    Reply
  9. Tauqeer Khan

    Nial always surprise with inspiring articles.

    Reply
  10. Harold Nelson

    Happy New Year to you too Nial,

    Your hard work has not only helped me as a trader but also see myself in a new light. Your articles are a must read for any one struggling with being controlled by emotions. Thanks very much for your articles. I hope you keep it up for many more years. :)

    Reply
  11. Odwa Mazwi

    Hi Nial

    Happy New Year and thank you for everything yo have done for us

    Reply
  12. Valentin

    Dear Nial,
    Another great article like all your work during the entire 2012.
    Thank you for all your efforts and sharings.
    Happy and prosperous New Year!

    Reply
  13. lloyd Mabheka

    Thanks for the article and have very prosperous and may more years to come

    Reply
  14. GrahamD

    HNY Nial,Thank you for your welcome support and advice.

    Reply
  15. barry kettlewell

    Thanks Nial. Perfect reminder for me. I love how you keep reminding us of the basic principles which are so easy to drift away from. Happy new year.

    Reply
  16. chinedu

    truth be told. after reflecting on the past year, i can comfortably say that i was on a one year gambling binge. of course i lost significant amt of money that i had to go back to working at a pizza store i quit years ago. very frustrating but i have learnt my lesson(s). trading is not a get rich quick scheme and it requires a great deal of maturity to succeed in this career.

    Reply
  17. Brendan

    Good inspirational stuff.
    Seasons Greetings

    Reply
  18. JJozsef

    Happy New Year Nial, and for all Price Action Traders !

    Reply
  19. james b

    happy knew year all price action traders

    Reply
  20. Olatunde ademola

    Your consistency of trading principles and psychology are always showing in all your articles!
    YOU ARE STILL D BEST I HAVE EVER COME ACROSS.
    Happy new year in advance.

    Reply
  21. Gautam

    Hi Nial.

    I express my sincere wishes and gratitude for your generous contributions to the community. I hope you continue to carry on with your good work for decades to come.

    Thank you again and have a wonderful New Year 2013!

    Reply
  22. suraj chavan

    Thank you for support me
    HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013 :)

    Reply
  23. suraj chavan

    Thank You for This Great Article
    & Giving This Good Resolutions
    Thank you

    Reply
  24. Peter Grimes

    I will go along with all of that, Happy New Year to NIALL and all budding traders…………….

    Reply
  25. Eve

    Nial, you are really helping me with your aricles. I hope I will get on track and that I could maintain that performance as you.

    I wish you and all oter members who follow you all the best in 2013!***

    Reply
  26. Pete

    “The journey to excellence is a solitery one” quote by Ammie Winehouse when she was 19 in Western Ireland
    This sums perfectly what trading is about and any desire to achieve excellence. Keep it simple keep it constant,use the plan that is already proven to you as one that works. Play the Walmart principle, buy cheap sell dear, that’s it!
    Best wishes to everyone for 2013 and thanks Nial for all you share
    Pete

    Reply
  27. gary

    It is so encouraging to know that we still have people like you in the world. You have been a knowledge base and a source of inspiration to many of us traders. Have a Happy New Year when it comes Nial.

    Reply
  28. Arif

    Thanks Nial. Happy new year to you and your family.

    Thank you.

    Arif

    Reply
  29. Hans

    Hi Nial, I wish you a happy new year. Over a long time I follow you on your website. I must say, for me, the best forex website. I learn to trade the market over 5 years beside my job, without the big success. I want to become a full time trader and so I decided to enter your member zone.
    Thank you

    Reply
  30. sonny

    Great Article from the man himself, Thanks once again for your continued support. Regards to you and the Family for the New year and also to the Trader community.

    Reply
  31. Mariano Jc

    Thank you, it is an interesting article. Happy and prosperous 2013!

    Reply
  32. rajiv

    Thnx Nial
    this ariticle is very unusual and is going to help me out a lot not only in trading as well as in my personal life.

    Reply
  33. Barry

    Have a wonderful New Year. I cannot agree more with you. When it comes to trading “Less is more”

    Reply
  34. Bobbletog Flartybart

    Hi Nial,

    My main resolution for next year is to continue not following the great herd of the 95% of losers. I will follow my own rules and continue to sharpen my trading edge!

    Happy New Year and Good Luck for 2013 Everyone!!

    Reply
  35. boris

    All you are doing worthy of high respect.
    May God and good luck will always be on your side.
    Good health to you and your family.
    Thanks a lot.

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

    Reply
  36. Joeseph

    Your write up have always been helpful to me and have improved my trading tremendously

    Reply
  37. winny

    i am a new memeber .. have a great year …wish you the best 4 you and your family may god protect you all ..

    Reply
  38. Abner

    Awesome! Love it.

    Reply
  39. Miroslav Kotlar

    Thx for your hard work and Happy New Year 2013 Nial :)

    Reply
  40. Abdullah

    thank you very much Nail,Happy new year and good luck in all your future endeavors

    Reply
  41. Lisa

    Wishing you a *Happy New Year*, Nial ╭⊰❀΄՛

    Reply
  42. Zsolt

    Excellent article. I wish you a Happy & Profitable Y2013.

    Reply
  43. Jose Luis

    Very nice article Nial. It’s been a great pleasure to learn and follow you this year. I have learned a lot and look forward to improving my trading skills and to becoming a consistent and profitable trader.

    Happy New Year and all the best today and always.

    Jose L.

    Reply
  44. Norman

    Hi Nial, I have to say that i am lucky to come across your articles in the year of 2012,it does make me to be a better trader and helped me on the way to be a professional trader,always appreciated for your valuable sharings, Happy new year to you and all your family!

    Reply
  45. slivester

    happy new year nial…….

    Reply
  46. Paul

    Happy New Year Nial!!!! All the best :)

    Reply
  47. KRISTOFA OKENTA

    I WANT TO WISH YOU GREATER WISDOM FROM GOD SO YOU CAN CONTINUE TO GIVE US THESE VALUABLE NUGGETS IN 2013.
    MORE BLESSINGS TO YOU AS WELL.

    Reply
  48. giggs

    thanks 4 good articles and happy new year..

    Reply
  49. george zhou

    Very good article, appreciated very much, Nial. Key point is habit, habit and habit. After learning you training course, I found I got a goal to drive for, that helped me not just trading but quality of my life. I can’t find any training course like yours which can get into people’s heart

    Reply
  50. Babatunde Anthony

    Your courses are quite interesting

    Reply
  51. Surya

    Hi Nial,

    It has been a great year of learning. Learnt a lot from your articles and my own experience in the market. Though I am not yet consistently profitable, I have come a long way. From being emotional and stress full , now trading is more relaxed and logical.

    Thanks

    Reply
  52. John

    Hi Nial
    Yet again common sense advice. Your training has made 2012 my first profitable year and wish you and your family all the best for 2013.
    Look forward to a profitable year in 2013 anyone thinking of joining Nial on his course I can say first hand it is worth every penny.

    Happy trading to everyone

    Reply
  53. Henry

    Dear Nial, sorry about my typo! Regarding the trading screen time, I would rather say the 1 hour is just for trading purpose, and more time will be spent on reading, studying or may be looking at historical charts say to reinforce our internal mind recognition of price action patterns!

    Reply
  54. allan clarke

    Once again a truly valuable encouragement given with your usual honesty and deeply appreciated sincerity and to you and yours all the very best for this coming year and the future.

    Thanks Nial
    Allan

    Reply
  55. Azeem

    Thanks Nail. Great article.
    Wishing you Happy New Year!

    Reply
  56. CorongFX

    Your words like a “Mantra” to me, Neil.. Thankyou.. Happy New Year 2013..

    Reply
  57. PERI

    I wish you great progress and good luck in all your future endeavours !

    Reply
  58. PERI

    Excellent article !

    Reply
  59. John

    Thanks for your wisdom in 2012. I look forward to being a professional trader and better overall person in 2013 through your 5 New Year’s Trading Resolutions!

    Reply
  60. Henry

    Thank you Nail for your advice and encouragement. Happy New Year!

    Reply
  61. carlos pedraza

    Thank you Nial, Happy new year!!

    Reply
  62. Oldie

    Hi Nial: I posted a similar comment on an article that I had gone off to forgetting that I was no longer in this one so,as`many traders have said before, another great article & I wish you & yours a happy & safe New Year.
    Cheers Oldie

    Reply
  63. Waldemar

    Thank you very much for your support. It is always plesure to to hear from you. Happy New Year and Profitable Trading !

    Reply
  64. ET Gan

    Hi Nial,

    Good article but how does it tie with the fact that to be really good in a particular field, one has to put in about 10000 hours? To reproduce this section of your article:

    Your resolution could be to limit screen time to 1 hour per day, you can divide up that hour however you choose; two 30 minute sessions or four 15 minute sessions, etc. Whilst screen time is essential for learning how to trade, too much of it can be counter-productive afterwards, and spending increasing amounts of time analyzing your charts will eventually “hypnotize” you into finding trades that aren’t really valid instances of your trading edge.

    Happy New Year

    Reply
    • Nial Fuller

      ET,
      I don’t believe a person needs 10,000 hours to become a professional. The idea put forward in this article is to avoid over trading and avoid watching the charts all day. A person would likely spend much more time reading/studying a trading method via courses or books etc, that is fine.

      Reply
  65. Nabs

    Thanx Nial – Happy New Year !!

    Reply
  66. Dave W

    Great start to the year with this article Nial, thanks for the encouragement. I know I need to iron out some bad habits and write my plan down. Trading without a plan feels like aimless driving without a destination.

    Reply
  67. moomings

    These words make the most sense of all , and I must have looked at nearly every strategy and method that is out there and I know this to be true, Indicators do not work and price action does work, I follow your daily analysis and it makes ultimate sense and it works, keep up the good work

    Reply
  68. David berry

    Nial

    I respect your candid nature and honesty, thank you for keeping it real.

    David in Houston

    Reply
  69. lyte

    Thanks Nial. One of my goals in 2013 is “have a plan of action or plan to fail”. Its amazing how having a trading journal has helped me be accountable.This has crossed over into my personal life with writing down my goals and constructing a plan. It continues to simplify and redefine my own challenges and through result I am able to keep going. All your contributions and the articles you write is appreciated and look forward to your continued support next year.

    Reply
  70. jasper

    It’s about doing the things we have to do in order to become the person we want to become

    Reply
  71. Ralph

    Thank You Nial for your help I wiil do my best to follow your all your traing. I am looking forward to 2013 trading, and I also wish you and your family a happy new year.

    Reply
  72. florina

    Namaste from India

    Respected Nial Sir,

    For your thoughtfulness and generosity, from you I have learned much of trading philosophy
    I appreciate you, and I wish you well on your journey!
    Happy New Year to my trading guru.
    – Thank you sincerely.

    Reply
  73. Steve West

    Great article again Nial, good reading !!

    Reply
  74. Swede

    I feel a bit sheepish having such priceless articles on trading and life coming to me free of charge. It has opened my eyes to trading opportunities that where never considered in the past….Many thanks!

    ps: looking forward to joining LTTTM in 2013

    Reply
  75. AMIN MALIK

    NIAL, Thank you so much for your candid help all-along. we remain so obliged to you. Wish you and your Family and all the traders” HAPPY & PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR”

    With best of REGARDS, AMIN MALIK

    Reply
  76. Sanu

    Thanks Nial for all of your articles and helps. This is a nice article indeed.

    Wishing you a safe happy new year.

    Reply
  77. ERIKA

    Well-outlined and eazy to follow.
    Thank you!!

    Reply
  78. Anthony

    God bless u Nial! It’s great what you’re doing here! I do hope I get to finally master this trading style but for now everything learnt here has been worthwhile so far! Thanks! And I cant say that enough! Wish u and everyone here a wonderful new year!

    Reply
  79. Safwan

    Hi Nial,

    Thanks for sharing your knowledge and wisdom in forex trading. This is so far the best forex website I’ve ever come across for the last 7 years in my trading world.

    Happy New Year Nial :)

    Reply
  80. Ivan Yeo

    Thanks Nial, wishing you a Happy New Year.

    Warmest regards,
    Ivan

    Reply
  81. kamal

    Thanks Nial, For Your Help, Happy New Year to You and Your Team.Congratulation to Your Work and Future…

    Reply
  82. catalin

    Your articles and webpage has helped me a lot after struggling in the markets for a while. Now I follow your rules and guidelines to the letter and things are looking a lot better.
    I want to thank you for your work and wish you a better year than 2012.
    Best regards,
    Catalin

    Reply
  83. Richard

    Hi Nial,
    Thanks for your work and site, very helpful for newbies.
    Happy new Year to Ya.

    Reply
  84. Tariq Farooq Babar

    Nial! God bless u along with your family and bestow us courage to follow this beautiful article.

    Reply
  85. Sachith

    Happy New Year Nial sir.

    Reply
  86. James

    Thank you for all your amazing articles from 2012, they are a great source of information and wisdom, and I have learnt a great deal from them they are priceless. I will look forward to what 2013 has in store at LTTTM. Happy New year to Nial, Coach, King, and all other members and followers and good trading. James

    Reply
  87. grant

    Great article nial. Thanks for all your articles and info over the year.

    All the best.

    Grant

    Reply
  88. Vartik

    Happy New Year Nial!!!!

    Reply
  89. trader csc

    Great Article Nial !!!

    Reply
  90. balaa11

    Thanks for all the work during the year and this is the best website to learn to become a successful trader and the holy grail is in our minds.Working on to get to a level of “unconscious competence”.

    Reply