If You're Still Overly Excited About Trading: Why Boredom Might Be Your Greatest Ally

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If you're still incredibly enthusiastic about trading, feeling the urge to monitor the markets daily, and becoming anxious when markets close over the weekend, chances are you're not trading correctly. Your current behavior mirrors that of a child who's just received a new toy—wildly passionate about exploring every detail and so absorbed that they'll refuse to stop even for basic necessities like eating or bathing.

Typically, this phase is common among novice traders. However, it becomes problematic if you've been trading for years and still exhibit the same emotional volatility. While there are no immediate negative consequences, in the long term, such tendencies will only impede your growth as a trader.

Correct Trading is Boring Trading

You might argue that you love this work. That's not inherently wrong, but I'm not telling you this to criticize you or prompt a defensive response. Instead, I want to caution you: be wary of getting trapped in momentary excitement and losing sight of your original trading objectives.

Moreover, no matter how much we enjoy something, we inevitably become desensitized, and our enthusiasm will gradually wane. Consider someone who loves a particular dish—if they consume it every day for years, they'll eventually grow tired and crave variety.

The reason proper trading is boring is that it requires repeating the same actions consistently. If you're using a double-top trading strategy, you must check for double-top patterns every time you analyze the market. When the pattern exists, you trade; when it doesn't, you wait. This process continues, regardless of market fluctuations.

You can't suddenly decide to enter the market because you've spotted a Head and Shoulders or different pattern—that would be an entirely different strategy. Doing so is equivalent to violating your own trading rules. By initially committing to a specific strategy, you're essentially pledging not to switch tactics midway.

You might be wondering: Why stick to just one strategy when numerous trading approaches exist?

As a trader, your goal isn't to generate a single profit and then retire forever. Instead, you aim to generate profits repeatedly, ideally documenting gains across various trading periods—be they monthly, quarterly, annual, or otherwise.

How do you achieve this? By discovering a profitable strategy and executing it with unwavering consistency. Remember: the same method produces the same results, while different methods yield different outcomes.

If you want to replicate profits across trading periods, you must use the strategy that previously generated consistent returns—not randomly adopt untested approaches. In essence, you must repeatedly perform identical actions during each trade. And inevitably, this repetition becomes incredibly monotonous.

The counterintuitive reality is that if you're not feeling bored while trading and remain perpetually excited, it likely means you're constantly switching strategies. This approach keeps you in a state of perpetual tension—experiencing extreme disappointment during losses and excessive euphoria during profitable trades. Such emotional dynamics create an addictive cycle that maintains your trading enthusiasm.

What Should You Do?

If you're someone who feels incredibly passionate about trading, investigate the source of this excitement. Is it genuinely rooted in a love for trading and analysis, or does it stem from your habit of using different approaches each time you trade and analyze markets?

If your enthusiasm originates from constantly changing strategies, start by identifying a reliable trading approach. Conduct a thorough backtest on a specific pair and timeframe, selecting a strategy with robust statistics that also feels comfortable to use—meaning it's not just profitable, but doesn't require inconvenient practices like middle-of-the-night monitoring or constant market surveillance.

Next, apply this trading strategy to the same market where you performed your initial backtest. If you backtested on XAUUSD H4, then trade exclusively on the H4 timeframe for XAUUSD. Avoid switching to H1 or other pairs.

After successfully implementing the strategy and achieving results similar to your backtest, gradually expand your trading instruments by backtesting the same strategy on different pairs with specific timeframes. Remember that strategies rarely work universally—they're typically effective on select pairs.

Once you've completed your backtests and established multiple trading instruments, simply remain disciplined. Execute your strategy consistently across the pairs you've previously tested, continuing this approach even when boredom sets in.

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