What is important in trading?

Recently, I put my hand on Forex trading. I had tried before and the result was dismay. I started GBPUSD and mixed with EURUSD and USDJYP. My strategy was to scalp whichever that comes with some move. I ended doing too many trades that are not very well setup. That means I took a lot of half-chances and as expected, I missed most of them. Then I stopped for a few months doing other things. Recently, I am back again. This time, I focus on EURUSD and I waited more patiently for setup to appear. Still, my strategy is scalping. The big different is I prepared myself differently in term of psychologically. One, I kept telling myself to be patient. Two, I don't look for big gain. I am not looking to take small gains in a bigger move. That means, I don't wait for the whole move to be complete to get out. I will get out as soon as my target is reach. Three, I lower my targets. The result turned out to be very encouraging.



Now that I have achieve very high return (in % wise), my next question is the most important one. Can I kept my trade consistent? After reading many forums and blogs about trading, I realized that what most traders looking for is CONSISTENCY. Yes, we can make a few good trades here and there but how can we keep getting consistent results?

Taking the above example, the result could be due to combination of the following factors:

1. The market is moving in a certain direction that favors that trading strategy. For example, in a bull run in stock market, everybody makes money.

2. The stake is relatively small and you can be more calm when taking trades.

3. Your state of mind is suitable for that trade at that time. How can you maintain that state of mind? Will you ever get swollen head?

The best thing to do, in my opinion, it to test yourself. Don't increase the stake yet. Do exactly the same thing for another 4-6 weeks to get the consistency first before deciding to increase the stake.