By Darrell Martin
Some traders try demo trading for a day or two and feel ready to take on the markets. They are the traders that usually blow through account after account. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are traders who continue to trade in demo for years. What are the excuses that are used that keep traders stuck trading in demo? Does trading Binary Options have any effect on these trading excuses?
Some traders are afraid of making a mistake. Of course, you will make mistakes. That is the reason for trading in demo first. Treat your demo account as if it is your live account. If you will be trading one contract at a time, do that in demo. Demo is your time to practice what you will do in live. You learn from the mistakes you make and move on. You don’t blame anything or anyone. You just put on your big boy/girl pants, realize that errors will be made and have the courage to learn from your mistakes. You can journal your trades to further learn from your mistakes, but don’t go overboard so that you are in the analysis paralysis mode. If you hit that point, you are no longer trading forward; you are trading backward.
If you are spending all day analyzing previous trades, you are missing trades. Consider the truthfulness of this statement: “There is no such thing as perfect. There is good enough to make money and improving.” Realize that every day you are good enough and improving. Make that your mantra, if necessary, to move you out of demo and into live trading, once you are comfortable with your trading platform, systems and strategies.
You may be looking for perfection. You may want the perfect set up, the perfect trade or the perfect chart. Things can go wrong and when they do, it can cause you to miss trades or get in too late or out too early. Wait for the signals that meet your parameters. Don’t force a trade, but don’t be so worried about it being exactly perfect that you miss a good trade.
Trading binary options takes some of the emotion out of trading because you know the maximum risk and profit before you ever place the trade. If you understand your risk and your reward before you enter into a trade, trading does not have to be about feelings, thus limiting your excuses.
Take the time you need to learn a system and strategy until you know it well enough to teach it to someone else. At that point, have the courage to go live. Don’t change anything from what you have been practicing in demo. If you have treated your demo account the same as your live account and you know your trading strategies, you are ready to go live.
You need to go Live to improve your trading skills.