What do I mean by “connection”? I'm referring to the five skills or mindsets that are connected, like links in a chain. You need all five for it start with day trading.

If you are great at only four of them, then you are definitely not long for day trading. You will wash as fast as your money does. You are only as good as the weakest link in your chain. So what are these connections?

Related: 5 things you need to be a successful day trader

Link #1: Drive the car

You have to be very driven to succeed as a day trader. You may be thinking to yourself right now, “Hey, that's easy! The only reason I want to get into day trading is for the money.“

I'm here to tell you that focusing on making money alone won't be enough motivation to get you through the tough times of day trading – and there will be plenty of tough times, including all-nighters. weekends and setbacks. Why? Because these days, money isn't silver coins in your pocket, or even paper in your wallet. It's a blip on the screen.

You can do a lot with blips, but you need to strengthen the Drive connection by asking yourself, “What do I want to do WITH the money?” Maybe your deal is to fund an orphanage, set your parents up for life, or buy your dream lake house. Any of these or similar goals will be a good start. But to reinforce your drive, amplify the images in your head. Every day, see yourself using the money to accomplish your goal and imagine how you will feel.

Link #2: Computer Skills

I know a lot of marketers and none of them are “hunt and peck” types of typists. You don't need to be incredibly fast in order to day trade, but you do need to be faster than most people. Your goal should be to type letters, numbers, and function keys without having to look at the keys. At that point, it starts to become an extension of your mind.

Fortunately, this chain link is straightforward – you just have to put it into practice. There is no shortage of typing apps available these days. Pick one and practice 15 minutes every day. I would sit with the keyboard on my lap and exercise while watching TV at night. I did a workout and occasionally watched TV. This made the task more fun and soon, I was good enough that I rarely looked at the keyboard while trading.

Related: Do you have any of the 5 traits that successful marketers and entrepreneurs share?

Link #3: Emotional Regulation

This is a two-part article: First, you need awareness to know when you're out emotional balance. All of us are generally aware of when we get bored, distracted, jealous and frustrated. But because day trading happens so quickly, you have to be aware of these emotions that flash through your head as they happen. Otherwise, you will become what I call “emotionally hijacked.” I can recommend a book on mindfulness that might help. it's Wherever you go wherever you areby Jon Kabat-Zinn. Mindfulness is not meditation; it's a way to pay attention to your thoughts as if you were an observer of them. It's something good for day trading and for life.

The second part is regulating those emotions. Not very helpful if you realize you're off the charts FOMO and are ready to do something rash – inevitable to stop themselves in time. You can greatly improve this key skill over time if you keep a journal trade journal. In it, you take a few minutes after the day's trade to jot down a short but honest description of what just happened with your trade. I have also found meditation to help regulate my emotions. Silence is a way to recover from an intense trading session and regain my emotional balance.

Link #4: Situational Awareness

It's about getting a feel for the markets that goes beyond just having the right charts and numbers in front of you. It's knowing when the market is hot and it's time to let your winners run to some extent. Then you need to know when the market is entering a cooling phase and you need to ease the pressure and not throw away your profits in a futile attempt to compensate for bad trades. The market doesn't care how you feel or how well or poorly you've done lately. You need to trade the market that is right in front of you. It helps if you are accurate about the nature of that market.

Related: How to power negotiations with reliable data

Link #5: Discipline

This may just be the most important link. This is because if you have cultivated your self-discipline, it will save you during trading sessions and help you work on the other links above.

You simply cannot have too much discipline, but it is easy to have too little. Day trading is a cauldron of excitement and activity, and when you have the discipline to follow your predetermined trading instructions—even in the white heat of the moment—you just might do well. If you let your emotions take control of the keyboard, you're toast. Your trading and guided journal the meditations it will help strengthen your discipline.

I've made a ton of money day trading, but have I “conquered” these five links? No. Do I have more good days and fewer terrible ones? yes. As with any other skill, you get rusty if you don't practice regularly. One of the best things about day trading is that tomorrow morning we all start with a clean slate. How you practice and strengthen those five chain links will largely determine how your trading day turns out.