Every trader eventually has one of those days when the market feels like it is out to get you. Nothing clicks. Every setup flops. You start wondering if your chart woke up in a bad mood.
When that happens, most people do one of two things:
They either step back to reset or push harder and try to force a win.
If you usually choose the second path, there is a good chance you are forcing your trades.
Forcing trades shows up in different ways. Maybe you take setups that do not meet your rules. Maybe you trade bigger than you should. Maybe you trade too often for your comfort level.
At its core, forcing trades means trying to make something happen instead of responding to what the market is actually offering.
So, how do you avoid the temptation of forcing your trades?
The answer, according to my favorite trading psychologist, Dr. Brett Steenbarger, is to turn your rules into habits.
This is the part where you make yourself follow your guidelines for position sizing, leverage, stop levels, and risk management plans. Write your rules down. Use a checklist if you need to. The process gets easier as you develop a rhythm and see the (hopefully positive) results of strictly sticking to your plans.
If you try to lead the market by predicting the future or by poking around for trades that are not really there, it is like trying to salsa with someone while you are counting the beats wrong. You get tangled up, lose the rhythm, and completely miss the moves that would have made the dance fun.
Trading is more like a slow-cook recipe. You give it time, you follow the steps, and you avoid lifting the lid every five seconds. Forcing trades is the equivalent of blasting the heat and hoping dinner does not burn.
When you trust your own trading system, and you are not setting out to fix something that is not broken, you become far less tempted to force trades the next time the market frustrates you.
Remember that trading is a marathon and not a sprint. The goal is to trade for another day until you learn how to be consistently profitable with your strategies.
Don’t sabotage your progress by forcing your trades.
