Are you forcing your Forex trades?

Every trader eventually has one of those days when the market feels like it’s out to get you. Nothing clicks. Every install fails. You start to wonder if your graph woke up in a bad mood.

When this happens, most people do one of two things:

They are too a step back to reset or press harder and try to force a win.

If you usually choose the second path, there’s a good chance you are forcing your trades.

Forcing transactions manifests itself in different ways. You may be accepting installations that don’t meet your rules. You may be trading more than you should. You may be trading too often for your comfort level.

Essentially, forcing trades means trying to force something to happen instead of reacting to what the market is actually offering.

So how do you avoid the temptation to force your trades?

The answer, according to my favorite trading psychologist, Dr. Brett Steenbarger, is to turn your rules into habits.

This is the part where you force yourself to follow your position size guidelines, leverage, stop levels, and risk management plans. Write down your rules. Use the checklist if you need to. The process gets easier as you get into a rhythm and see (hopefully positive) results from sticking to your plans.

If you’re trying to lead the market by predicting the future or looking for deals that don’t really exist, it’s like trying to salsa with someone while you’re miscounting the beats. You get confused, lose rhythm, and completely miss the moves that would make the dance interesting.

Trade is more like a slow cooker recipe. You bide your time, follow the instructions, and don’t lift the lid every five seconds. Bargaining is like turning on the heat and hoping your lunch doesn’t burn.

If you trust your own trading system and aren’t going to fix what isn’t broken, you’ll be much less tempted to force trades the next time the market disappoints you.

Remember that trading is a marathon, not a sprint. The goal is to trade one more day until you learn how to make consistent profits with your strategies.

Don’t sabotage your progress by forcing deals.