Setting Goals With Your Trading: Good Idea?

So its the start of a new year and this is often the time that people will begin to set new goals and resolutions for life in general. Technically, a date shouldn’t dictate when you all of a sudden decide to stop smoking or putting on weight but people always like to do so from January 1st onwards.

So it wouldn’t surprise me if many Sports Traders out there are busy setting goals for 2012 and beyond. This is all good and a very positive thing to do but you should also make sure you are setting the right goals too!

The Wrong Type of Goals

I often see people set goals which are based around money targets. Some will say they want to aim to be earning £xx per day and £xx per week/month but trading simply doesnt work that way.

There are many days when I actually lose money!

Thats right, I end the day with less money in my account then I started it with which might sound shocking but its the way it works when you are trading.

The only reason I never go bust is because I know to stop when I dont have any opportunities left to take. If I set myself a target of £100 per day and it came to 8pm and I was about £25 down then I have about 4 hours to make £125 and at that time of night there are going to be few genuine opportunities. So then you are in a bit of a rut with trying to hit your target.

The same goes for setting weekly targets too. You are only putting yourself under unnecessary pressure to find and “create” opportunities which might not even exist. There have been times when I have a losing week too. You just have to analyse your mistakes, pick yourself up and keep going. This isn’t like a normal job where you can realistically aim to earn £xx amount every week or month.

Fact is, you can and WILL have a losing DAY/WEEK/MONTH at some point and there is nothing you can do to stop that. Not many would be able to cope with that reality but then not everyone is cut out for trading.

The Right Type Of Goals

So when it comes to trading I think a better way of setting goals is to set a goal of learning a new market or improving your discipline. One trader I know who does Horses has made it his new years resolution never to trade in-play on the horses as that is how he loses most of his money.

One of my personal goals for the year will be to study and learn some of the US market such as Basketball and also the NFL and understand them much better then I currently do. Something I am already working hard on.

You could even set your goals relevant to your bank. Aim to double your trading bank and double your regular stake by the summer but make sure not to beat yourself up or panic trade if you don’t see your target being achieved.

So it is good to set goals but its not good to put yourself under ridiculous pressure to achieve them. When you are a trader one of the best qualities you can have is PATIENCE.

Sadly, its a quality many people don’t possess which is why they don’t ever get very far with their trading.

Last night…

Just a quick word about last nights football as judging from the Twitter and forums reaction, yet again many people were shocked that both the odds-on favourites failed to win last night and both actually lost.

Of course, I wasnt.

I did actually hint at it in yesterday’s post.

if you are a fan of the repeat results theory tonight then you have to be laying Man Utd @ 1.73 and Everton @ 1.55. Neither side won this corresponding fixture last time out so it will be interesting to see if they can overcome it this time. I certainly wouldnt want to be backing either side at those prices. You have to also remember that Man Utd never beat Newcastle at Old Trafford in November either so they should be in for a very tough match tonight.

However,  seeing Newcastle stick 3 past Man United wasn’t something I was expecting at all I have to admit!

Anyway, Roll on the FA Cup weekend as I am expecting more unexpected shocks to come along this weekend too! 😉