It is believed that there is nothing wrong with striving for the ideal. However, perfectionism is considered a psychological illness for a reason. This is not a simple desire to do everything well, but an obsessive urge to do it perfectly or not at all. Perfectionism might ruin your way to success on Forex.
Perfectionism in Trading
Forex trading is only 10-15% technical. The rest is psychological. That is why any obsessive aspirations can be detrimental to your career.
Perfectionism might manifests itself in different ways:
- Bringing beauty to your charts. The trading terminal offers a range of indicators and Expert Advisors that can "beautify" your chart. A perfectionist trader can get so hung up on how to properly set up programs and place lines and levels on the chart that he/she can completely forget about the main task - trading and making actual money.
- Building a balance curve. Perfectionists often track their results because they need to be perfect. Many emphasize that the balance curve must constantly go up. If there is a drawdown at some point, the perfectionist might decide to close a trading account and start all over again on another one. Since it is impossible to achieve an ideal result in Forex, the trader will have to start all over again until he/she eventually gives up.
- Failure to choose a broker. There is no company with perfect trading conditions. As a result, a trader can get stuck at the stage of choosing a broker and never move forward.
- Finding the perfect strategy. In Forex, this is called the “holy grail”. No strategy will give 100% results in trading. If a perfectionist sets a goal to find the ideal strategy, then he/she will never move further than the search stage.
- Failure to enter into trade. Waiting for the perfect moment can lead to an irrational fear of trading. What if a trade doesn't work out? What will happen to my trading performance? As a result, the perfectionist stands still, waiting for the perfect trade that might never come.
How to Deal with Perfectionism
The first and foremost step is awareness. If you find yourself searching for the perfect strategy, the perfect company, the perfect trade, then you have work to do.
If you are a perfectionist in trading, you have to work on your trading system. Sometimes, people do not understand that trading is a game of probability.
There is nothing wrong with striving for the ideal if you have a sense of proportion. Strive for the best, but don’t be too harsh on yourself for mistakes. Understand and accept that without losses you will not succeed in Forex. Once you learn how to work on your mistakes, they will become your true friends on your path to success.