The Online Investing AI Blog

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I was watching a community work crew put up a bridge across a creek many years ago. I asked the guy in charge how the puny boards could hold the weight of the men out on the middle of the river.

He said, “It’s not the wood, or ropes, or posts that keeps the bridge up, it’s the design.” In other words, that pile of wood could not do anything without a solid idea behind it.

How profound. Sometimes we see the effects of our behaviors and pronounce them the cause, or the design. If I asked a hundred traders why they trade, they’d probably say because of the returns. But, underneath, there is a simple design. People may actually trade because they want excitement. Or they want security. Or they want to show off in front of a possible date.

The inability to find this know yourself is just one way you can complicate your trading. And that causes problems. If you want to build a better bridge to solid returns, here are fifteen ways to better understand yourself and to simplify your trading.

Automate
If emotions are causing you to risk too much, or not risk enough, use all of the Automated Trading technology that’s available to you, whether its full-scale Automated Trading systems, or automatic investment plans.

Meditate
Get to know yourself better. Spend a few minutes a day calming and cleansing the mind.

Regulate
Learn how to create trading discipline and follow those rules as long as they’re successful. Codes and discipline create simplicity.

Compensate
Pay yourself first from your trading. If you have a big windfall, take a portion of those funds to pay down bills, or invest in safer assets.

Educate
The more you learn, the more your confidence should grow. This is real confidence, not a facade used to disguise insecurity or a mask of ego to show off in front of others.

Imitate
One of the easiest ways to simplify your trading or investing is to imitate successful traders or investors. And then, do what they do.

Know Why You’re Trading
Your motivation for trading is almost as important as the trading itself. Learn to edit out those emotional cues that complicate your trading motivation.

Keep Wealth In Perspective
Wealth isn’t a figure on a balance sheet or a Lexus in the drive way, it’s an attitude. Keep away from faulty recognition of wealth that can complicate your trading.

Stay Flexible
Some traders complicate their trading patterns by inserting political or ideological beliefs into their analysis. You have to stay flexible even when the market moves against your opinions.

Measure Risk
Risk is often a traders enemy. When you learn to measure it and master it, risk becomes your greatest ally.

Go To A Casino To Gamble
If you look deep within yourself and discover that your real drive to become a trader is based on that rush of adrenaline, give yourself a chance to gamble outside of your trading account. Go to a casino. Play fantasy football. Buy a lottery ticket. Those are the arenas for gambling.

Master Your Schedule
Don’t just spend time online trading. You need time to research and plan your trades. Add time for those activities during the week and keep to it.

Schedule Mastery
Add time for unrelated, but just as important, mental and physical mastery. It might be yoga. It could be meditation. It might be a jog in the park. But you have to maintain a regimen of physical and mental exercises.

Turn Off The Voices Outside Your Head
Listening to pundits and talking heads on television can be dangerous. As part of your research, it’s good to take in information, but too much talk can complicate and alter your trading discipline.

Turn Off The Voices Inside Your Head
Listen to what your inner voice is telling you. Is it positive? Does it keep you motivated? If not, learn how to turn those voices off with positive self-talk.