Trading Psychology  |  DEC 1997

Trading Without Limits by Adrienne Laris Toghraie

Self-discipline is the key to success in any field. Traders especially need to maintain discipline to manage themselves during good times and bad. Here are some of the key issues on how to keep yourself in line. The list of personal qualities required to build a successful trading career (or a successful career in any area of the financial and investing world, for that matter) sometimes appears to be endless. However, one quality is always first on the list: self-discipline. Self-discipline is, in turn, composed of many parts, the cornerstone of which is the ability to set limits. Setting limits can be viewed in many ways — as an ability or an innate talent, as a gift, as a willingness or personal decision, an inner discipline, or even as a virtue to be developed through personal commitment. However you define the quality of setting limits, without it, success is either an elusive dream or a temporary condition. Further, many people seem to have areas in their lives in which they can set limits and other areas in which they are incapable of doing so. Such a dichotomy is often seen as the ability of a person to set limits in his professional life while being unable to set limits in his personal life. A prime example are the fabulously successful stars of the entertainment and professional sports industries who have lost it all or have tragedy fall upon them due to their inability to set limits on their personal indul-gences: from Fatty Arbuckle to Elvis Presley, John Belushi, Mama Cass and Janis Joplin, all the way to Mike Tyson.

by Adrienne Laris Toghraie