One of things I like to do on the way home from work, in heavy Southern California traffic, is listen to podcasts in my car.

If you haven’t listened to the Chat With Trader podcast, you are missing some good interviews with all sorts of traders.

Australian, Aaron Fifield is the host and he ask each trader he interviews some great questions that will help beginning and advanced traders refine their craft.

I have two favorite episodes. One is with Brannigan Barrett episode 114. The other is a speech Aaron gave that is episode 145. I am going to summarize the episode and I highly recommend you listen to it.

Aaron’s speech was a summary of great advice he learned from successful traders.

His first point was have grit and don’t give up. Trading is not any easy task. You need to be tough if you plan on becoming successful at it. Trading is a job/business so you always need to be working on and improving your strategy.

Point two, you need to have the mindset that trading is a lifetime endeavor. You will not get rich quickly, and you will always be learning. You will never “arrive” as a trader. There is always something you can be doing to become a better trader.

Point three, you should know everything you possibly can know about your strategy. You should know when to place a trade and when to get out. To add to this, I think you should apply the KISS principle, keep it simple stupid. You should know why your strategy makes money and understand that there is no best trading strategy.

Point four, trade with an edge. If you place 100 trades and you are not profitable, you will not be successful.

Point five, understand and apply money management to your working capital. I believe you should never place a trade that is higher than 1% to 2% of your account balance. The market can take your money very quickly and it will take you along time to get it back. This should be apart of your trading plan. Your plan should be written out.

Point six, stick to your trading plan. Don’t always give up on your strategy when it is not working. The markets are always fluctuating and you need to be patient. Create and stick to your well thought out processes. You should judge your trading based on whether you followed your processes and not on your winning record.

Aaron finishes his speech with a quote from trader Tim Walker, “Amateurs never win in the game of life.”  You have to be a professional because you are trading against professionals.