Have you ever thought to yourself, ‘I love trading’, or told someone about your ‘passion’  for trading?

All too often I hear from struggling traders how much they ‘love trading’. They’re often quick to  profess their passion for trading.

Unfortunately, what they don’t realize, what they’re really saying is how much they love what trading could represent to them – financial freedom and the opportunity to directly influence  your own income. And they may enjoy fiddling around with charts too.

But what trading is really about (besides having an identifiable edge) is the ability to tolerate discomfort in all its various forms (waiting, missing out, losing, managing a winner, leaving money on the table, etc). Trading, whether you’re doing well or not, involves moment to moment uncertainty. How you handle, how well you tolerate uncertainty, is what determines your success.

Until a trader learns to accept that trading is really about tolerating discomfort, they will struggle, and ironically they’ll still say how much they ‘love trading’ despite the struggle (the dream of financial freedom is that powerful).

Hearing a trader describe their passion for trading, I always wonder, are they successful or not? What are they actually passionate about?  The idea of what trading might represent to them, or the idea they’re continuing (it never ends) to learn to tolerate the discomfort that comes with trading?

Expecting and tolerating discomfort is the primary difference among successful traders. I see this all the time in my coaching practice. About half of my coaching clients were already successful traders prior to coaching, and with every one of them I can pinpoint how they tolerate discomfort.

They also recognize that this never ends, whether its changes in market phases, changes in one’s personal life, something else, or a mix.

Successful traders often talk about the need to adapt.  Having worked with many highly successful traders, I believe there’s something else embedded in their statement. In addition to adapting to what the market is doing, these traders recognize the foundational importance of continuing to find ways to tolerate the inevitable discomfort.