The fourth key that’s important for aspiring part-time traders to keep in mind is to identify low-risk trades and be more selective. If there are a handful of stocks that are offering compelling reasons for a long position spend some time and research them closely to select the best one or two. Which ones are in the strongest industries? Which ones are in the strongest sectors within those industries? Which ones are the strongest subsectors within those sectors? Is there a stock that has the strongest fundamentals or gives the strongest technical setups to trade? By spending a few more minutes and examining the key criteria that you look for in a trading setup you can potentially lower your risk and raise the probability for a profitable trade by becoming more selective in identifying low-risk trades.

The fifth key for part-time traders need to have is an edge. An edge is any trading technique, method, or tool that gives that trader an advantage that can be exploited for trading profitably. An edge can be how a trader reads charts, studies price/volume relationships, selects stocks to trade, a system of trade management, or reads price patters. One very famous swing trader uses technical analysis, chart patterns, and volume studies to trade. In the late 1990, he turned an $11,000 account into $43,000,000 in only 23 months! Edges can be very simple tools that a trader has refined and has great skill in trading with.

The sixth key is learn how to be at peace with the inevitable losses that come from being involved with the market. When we are young we learn how to exist within a structured environment thru a series of rewards and punishments. In your home as a child, your parents would reward your good behavior and punish your bad behavior. As a result, you learned your boundaries and how to exist within that structured environment. When aspiring traders come to the market, however, they find that there is no structured environment and that the rules they learned when they were young no longer apply. The keys listed here are to help you survive and eventually prosper but you must relearn your own behavior in order to find the success you seek in the markets. If you can learn to love your losses while sticking the rules of trading you have set up for yourself then you are on your way to financial success. But if you lose sleep at night or in a constant state of anxiety because you fear taking a loss or have experienced a loss then you need to stop trading till you find the kind of peace that successful traders have come to understand that losses are just part of the business.

Finally, the seventh fundamental key for successful part-time trading is developing self-awareness. Every trader, beginner or professional, must be aware of personal weaknesses that may impede trading success and make the appropriate adjustments. From my own experiences, observations, and research, I have come to the realization that all traders experience confusion, frustration, anxiety, and the pain of failure. Self-discipline, determination, and self-control are key attributes one must have or develop within themselves in order to reach the pinnacle of success they seek in trading or any part of their life. Fortunately, these key attributes are not inborn but can be learned and strengthened much like you exercise a muscle which becomes stronger in time. You only have to spend some times developing your self-awareness and then once you have a grasp of your strengths and weaknesses you can create a plan to take action on them. This is fundamental for you to be at peace with the daily swings in the market as well as your own emotions in dealing with the market.

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