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Nial Fuller

NIAL FULLER Nial Fuller
Professional Trader, Author & Coach

Simplify Your Trading in 3 Easy Steps

simplify-life-with-balanceIf you’re reading this you’re probably struggling to make money in the markets and maybe you’ve even recently experienced a painful losing streak. Right now, trading seems “hard” to you, you doubt if anyone out there really makes consistent money from trading, and maybe you even feel like you want to give up. I know that you might be feeling this way right now because above all else, I’m a trader too, and I’ve felt what you’re feeling before. How did I move past all these negative feelings and finally attain success in my trading? To put it quite “simply” (pun intended), I simplified every aspect of my trading.

Before we proceed, I know you might be thinking the whole “simplify your trading” thing sounds cliché and that you’ve “heard it before” from me, and whilst that might be true, it does not change the significance of it. Most traders are their own worst enemy in the market, and no matter how many different ways I say that, it’s important to accept it and then to change it. Here are three very simple steps to simplify and improve your trading that you can begin implementing right now…

Step 1) Work on your attitude towards trading and life in general

One of my all-time favorite authors, Napoleon Hill, said that a “Positive mental attitude is the right mental attitude in all circumstances. Success attracts more success while failure attracts more failure.”

It’s one thing to hear the word “attitude”, people talk about it every day, but what does it really mean and how does it apply to your trading? A trader’s attitude refers to both his or her mental state of mind and the way he or she conducts their trading activities. It may sound slightly boring or even repetitive to hear someone say you need a “positive mental attitude”, but your attitude is probably one of thee most important factors that determines your trading results (both profits and losses).

Do you think when a person joins the Army, Navy or other armed forces that they are instantly going to conform and have their “shit” together? No new recruit enters the armed forces with the perfect attitude that they need to thrive there, they get shaped and molded over time through constant teaching from their superiors. When you enter the trading “battleground” it is no different; you are very unlikely to have the correct attitude and trading mindset right away. Instead, you need to make a DRAMATIC attitude shift; you can’t just sit around being the “same old you”; you have to reinvent yourself if you’re going to make it in this industry.

  • What are the attitudes of great traders?

The attitude of a great trader is the result of someone with a generally happy life already. If you aren’t happy at home you won’t make money trading at home (or trading from a coffee shop, or anywhere else for that matter). It sounds cliché, but you really need to “get your own house in order” first if you want to make money in the markets. People who aren’t happy at home tend to think they will somehow “turn their lives around” by making a lot of money in the markets. However, as Napoleon Hill would agree with; your mindset and attitude determines your success or failure in any endeavor, and it’s no different with trading. Too many traders look to trading as a way to “fix” their lives or “escape” the job that they hate, but they are unaware that by looking to the market for these things they are already forging the wrong trading attitude and mindset.

Trading should not be something you view as a way to “fix” yourself or your life, but as a tool you can use to generate money AFTER you are already mostly happy and content…don’t look to the markets for your happiness, that’s something you have to find elsewhere. The reason why it’s so important to be content with your life prior to trading is because whatever you are feeling will generally be reflected back to you in your trading. If you’re angry, depressed or sad, you are not going to have enough self-control or self-respect to be able to stick to a trading plan or manage you risk properly.

Thus, great traders are people who already have their “shit” together for the most part. I’m not saying you should already be really wealthy before you start trading, I’m just saying you should be a generally happy person and not feel like you “need” to trade to fix something in your life or to be happy. The less you feel like you need to trade the less pressure you will feel and the more clear and crisp you mindset and attitude will be as you trade the market, and this gives you the best chance to make money.

  • How to develop the right trading attitude

Attitude develops out of routine…in fact, everything develops out of routine…cigarette smoking, gambling, etc…all of these things develop from a repetitive routine, and repetition turns into habit and habits are very hard to break, as you probably know.

The good thing about attitudes is that just as we can develop bad ones from routinely doing bad things, we can also develop good attitudes from good routines. For example, if you try to surround yourself with positive thinking people, you will probably start to become more positive yourself. Changing your attitude towards trading and life in general begins with changing your negative self-destructive routines. Whatever these self-destructive routines may be (you know what they are), the sooner you begin to change them the sooner you will start developing the attitude you need to become a successful trader.

Changing your attitude towards trading and life is totally within your control. Much of the reason you’re probably losing money now in the market is because you have a bad attitude as the result of self-destructive habits and routines. Feeling angry at the market and over-trading because you feel like you need to make back lost money is a really bad attitude and will result in even more losses in the end.

If you reinforce positive trading routines you’ll become addicted to them and this will naturally grow the right trading attitude. Do whatever you need to do to make this happen…put yourself around successful traders more often (whether it’s online or offline), learn from mentors like myself, become sickeningly disciplined and almost obsessive about changing your attitude and you will soon see improvement in your trading.

Step 2) Become a “tight ass” trader

frugal-moneySometimes being a “tight ass”, aka being “cheap” or “tight” with your money, is a good thing, sometimes not. In regards to trading, it’s typically a good thing because it simply means you’re being conservative with your capital and not wasting it on stupid trades that you know aren’t part of your trading strategy.

There have been scientific studies that show that women typically make better traders and investors than men because they are less likely to make testosterone-fueled trading decisions that men tend to make. Unfortunately for the ladies out there, men seem to be more attracted to trading and I feel like many women who would be good traders miss out on the opportunity because of the stigma that trading is a “man’s” profession. Ladies, this is your wake-up call…you have a NATURAL ADVANTAGE in trading the markets, get interested!

In fact, most men who lose money in the markets do so because they take too big of risks, in other words they aren’t frugal like more women tend to be. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that women don’t take risks, because clearly you have to take on risk if you want reward and many women do indeed do this. However, women do tend to make more calculated trading decisions and tend to be more frugal with their trading capital than men, and this is a very good thing that works to their advantage.

Thus, the second step to simplifying your trading is to be a “tight-ass” in the markets. Be very careful with your money and don’t ignore the risk of losing your money every time you trade. The way to build your trading account is to do it slowly over time; you hit a big winner here or there and it pushes your equity curve higher, the key is that after these winners you have to be very careful and “tight” with your trading capital so that you don’t give all your profits back…then eventually you’ll hit another nice winner. This is how to successfully grow a small trading account over time, but it can’t be done if you’re not a tight-ass with your trading capital.

Step 3) Give complex trading methods a “wide berth”

Finally, perhaps the easiest step to simplifying your trading is to just ditch complex trading methods like Elliot Wave Theory, Gann, Indicators, the position of the stars, etc, etc. These trading methods are not necessary and they will probably hurt your trading performance much more than help it. It’s always been amusing to me that the easiest part of trading…analyzing the chart and finding a high-probability entry, is the part that traders make the most complex. It’s critical that you trade with a simple strategy like price action so that you aren’t unnecessarily confusing yourself and so that you can see clearly what’s happening on the chart. Trading in a simple de-cluttered manner like this is critical not only to accurately see what the price action on the chart is doing, but also to develop the correct trading mindset and attitude that we talked about earlier.

If you are currently using a complicated trading method and you want to simplify your trading, follow the steps discussed above and checkout my price action trading course for more information.

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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. Lukas

    Hi i start change my mindset and attitude and finaly i start see better changes in my trading. Than you Nial i think that was this what i need to improve my trading.

    Reply
  2. pozycjonowanie stron białystok

    Thanks in support of sharing such a good idea, article is nice,
    thats why i have read it fully

    Reply
  3. warren young

    Even though I’m a little late on this I just wanted to say I really enjoyed this article. It touched up on some things for me and has made me see some things I didn’t before.

    Reply
  4. Eve

    Hi Nial, I read a couple of yours aricles again and it was very nice, true and insigtful. Thank you for that.

    Reply
  5. Rafique

    The rock you are! Thanks a lot for giving me such a presentation. I need it very much.

    Reply
  6. Nestor

    Wow, this piece of writing is good, my sister is analyzing these kinds of things, therefore I am going to tell her.

    Reply
  7. pugal

    Nice intro for beginners..

    Reply
  8. haroonafridi

    u r lesson very and u r very nice person

    Reply
  9. uday pal singh

    Nice one and truly said simpler the better

    Reply
  10. jay

    Thanks. Yes you have nicely put across the need to focus on attitude ie POSITIVE ones. Great

    Reply
  11. Okafor N.

    Thanks for this insightful article. This and your other articles have been a blessing to me. Its has helped my trading in ways you can not imagine. Keep the flag flying.

    Reply
  12. Mwaura

    nail,
    great lesson.this is where most of us are stuck as we want to make quick money. we need to tame our quest to hit that jackpot and develop the tolerate trait.

    Reply
  13. Sunny

    Thanks Nial, this is so awesome. I’ll work with it.

    Reply
  14. deji okeowo

    thanks ,my mentor ,this artical came at rigth time
    for me i will always be greatiful to you

    Reply
  15. Keith

    Excellent article Nial – I am also a fan of Napolean Hill and I can now see that ones mental attitude is the main ingredient for success in everything, including trading.

    Reply
  16. Agono mike

    This message came at the nick of time. Thank u 4d exposition

    Reply
  17. The Big A

    I’ve read all you articles,this one must be up there with the best.If your not positive & generally happy you’ve got no real chance at this gig,your right on the money there bro I’ve proved that one to myself over the years.As far as that “elliot wave” kinda crap is concerned it has cost me plenty to realise a Wide Berth is in order for such shite.

    Reply
  18. rahwa

    Nial, you are wonderful. Always I wonder where from comes you knowledge about the market. you have the wisdom and knowledge of King Solomon of Israel.May God bless you and your whole family and relatives.

    Reply
  19. Mehdi

    this is the perfect key for me

    If you aren’t happy at home you won’t make money trading at home

    thank you nail

    Reply
  20. gayathri

    I look forward to the weekend , every week, as I get to read your intelligent and forceful articles. When the markets are closed, and life is little boring, I read your articles. Never have you wavered from the path of directing the lost sheep. Everything in life can be simple and neat but the human mind loves the complications. Thanks Nial for reminding us time and again about the power of simplicity in our trading activities as well.

    Reply
  21. joe

    great job, thanx gain nial

    Reply
  22. Tomson

    Really good article,

    So easy to forget this, it’s not only pinbars, fakey etc. There is so much more on the road for success.

    Thanks
    Tomson

    Reply
  23. Merry

    Thank you Nial. Love the first part … Actually love all the 3 steps.

    Thank you for sharing

    Reply
  24. KC

    No one has told me this before , you are the ONE! thanks a million

    Reply
  25. Sam

    I was just asking myself and have been thinking over this: “Why should I be following indicators when indicators themselves are following price?” Hun, price is king, truly and price action is the Holy grail.
    Thanks Nial for this eye opener.

    Reply
  26. omas

    GOD Bless You thanks

    Reply
  27. AYODELE

    Thank you for this great article.you are very correct.In my trading career,I lost more money any time i became desperate.Most of my wins came when I traded a very small percentage of my account.This gave me clarity of MIND.Talk about positive Mental Attitude…….this is Key.I agree with you

    Reply
  28. Olatunde

    Always as expected ;down to earth and concise.
    keep it going.
    Thanks.

    Reply
  29. Alex

    Great article, thanks Nial.

    Reply
  30. Mithun

    Dear Nial ,

    You are a true mentor with lots and lots of humane interest !

    You really talks from the mind of common aspirant traders … I can say definitely you are a most valuable position in ma trading life.

    You have a very professional and psychological style of writing and you truly talk from the heart :) Thanks Master .. i am really gratefull to your trading skills and admire you – Mithun ( MGP)

    Reply
  31. ERIKA

    Wow!!!!! well said!!!

    Reply
  32. Tshepo

    I enjoyed it.
    Thank you for your efforts.
    Because of your articles my trading has improved a lot. :)

    Reply
  33. Natalia Kenan

    Thank you Nial so much for wonderful lesson! I am a female and just started my live account few days ago. I had very positive attitude from the beginning. Now I’m really frustrated because every time I make a trade it goes opposite way. I don’t know if it is a very volatile market lately or I need to repeat your course and play it more careful…. Anyway your article gives me hope for a better trading!

    Reply
  34. Khalif Kirwa

    Nial, Brother, I cant remember how we met exactly, but having religiously read your entire free site(twice) Napoleon hills book, Mark Douglas two books, i am yet to comprehend what force hit me! i can say life is sensational. God bless u

    Reply
  35. Jakub

    Well, I feel like this was written for me. Thanks :)

    Reply
  36. Anh Le

    Thankyou,Nial !

    Reply
  37. KRISTOFA OKENTA

    I have learnt from ‘Prof” Nial that price action signal is the best way and simplest way of trading the market. Since I dropped every other ‘indicator’, i have been making more practical and confident success in my trade.
    Thank you dear Nial for your good efforts to us all.

    Reply
  38. Alex

    As usual. Great lesson!

    Read the course, then read it again. That helps create a confident positive mental attitude in trading needed to be successful!

    Since reading the Alchemist, Think and grow Rich, my life has changed. Friends have changed, job has changed and house was moved….all of it happened after I decided I wanted a change in my life. BANG! It happens all at once as soon as the decision is made in the subconscious.

    Reply
  39. Geetha

    Hi Nial,
    once again thanks for a wonderful lesson,
    You are a trading psychiatrist(doctor), who just reads the traders mindset and give solutions(medicines) as required.

    Thanks for giving the wake-up call to all women including me, I truly enjoyed the article, I am sure it is going to help and encourage many of them.

    Regards
    Geetha

    Reply
  40. John

    Totally agree with SJ.

    Reply
  41. ohuizu

    Hi, prof. Nial, I will forever remain greatfull to you, for your help to new and old traders is great,may God bless you.

    Reply
  42. Dominik

    Loved this bit: “perhaps the easiest step to simplifying your trading is to just ditch complex trading methods like Elliot Wave Theory, Gann, Indicators, the position of the stars, etc, etc.

    The best part is “position of the stars” :)

    On my charts there are only horizontal lines and THAT IS IT!

    All the best,

    Reply
  43. SJ

    Agree…..attitude is key…trading should be simple…and it is, as long as you have a well thought out plan and you are able to keep emotions under control.

    Reply
  44. samuel

    Very useful article.Thanks.

    Reply
  45. Henry

    Thank you Nial, I will remember!

    Reply
  46. Muthu

    SuperB Nial.. Definitely ur making difference the way we trade. More composed & less stress. thank you

    Reply