Warren Buffett had Benjamin Graham as a coach and mentor, Robert Kiyosaki followed his Rich Dad, and George Soros had Karl Popper. Three mentors and three success stories – so having a skilled trading coach definitely adds value to long-term profits.
Research shows that when 1-on-1 coaching is included in the training process, the learning rate can be as much as 70%-80% faster.
“A coach is someone who tells you what you do not want to hear, who has to see what you do not want to see, so you can achieve what you want to achieve.”
Having a trading coach or mentor is critical to your success in virtually anything. Coaching guarantees you improve your skill set and continue to grow. It introduces us to a particular skill set. Teaching ensures we apply the skill set correctly in a virtual environment.
Many new traders don’t have a lot of money to invest, so they want to save all they can by trying to do it alone. But what they fail to realize is the extra cost of a trading coach is, in almost all cases, is a drop in the bucket compared to the additional profits, or losses avoided, that will be achieved from making better investing decisions.
Why is it so challenging to improve trading performance? Expectations, discipline, emotional management, and ego involvement are just some of the common problems that both beginner and advanced traders cite.
Some beginner traders attempt self-coaching by trying to run solo and taking shortcuts, but they usually end up making the same errors over and over again, which leads to frustrating mistakes which can cost a lot of money and time. This is especially true when trying to implement options strategies. Guidance from an experienced expert can save money, time and energy.
Before you begin trading, consider looking for a trading coach to position a rock-solid foundation. A trading coach’s experience alone will be helpful along with their skill sets to deliver unique coaching training specific to helping you improve as a trader.
Why do You Need a Trading Coach?
A coach or mentor will have a positive influence on your trading behavior, thus helping you grow good long-term trading behaviors. A coach will not tell you what you wish to hear, but what you’re required to hear.
Before you go too far down the track – likely the wrong track, working with a trading coach will possibly help you recognize the essential signposts that are imperative for you as a trader. He will force you to re-think your existing trading paradigm.
In most cases, the solo trader is attempting to study how to trade via the trial and error method. This might take years; there’s also a high probability that the individual has established some bad habits in the passage of the trial and error process. The initial thing a solid trading coach will do is to discover those bad habits and provide you clear directions on how to conquer them while establishing the correct habits at the same time.
Advantages of a Trading Coach
A trading coach will show you how to learn from your mistakes. One of the main reasons many individuals avoid having a trading coaching is the dread of having someone see their mistakes. Time and time again psychologists have shown that we learn more from our faults than our accomplishments. A coach can give you constructive feedback about why there was a mistake and, more importantly, provide you clear direction on how to steer away from a mistake happening again.
A good mentor will expedite the learning process and behavior change through guiding the trader in the right direction and giving constructive feedback and support as the trader is establishing their mental edge. Like the adage, “give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.”
If you are genuinely determined to grow and improved as a trader, why would you not let yourself access to help? It’s imperative to know that seeking help is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of great inner strength and willpower.
A trading coach will help you in establishing realistic trading goals, depending on your trading capital, your risk aversion, your time horizon, the underlying assets as well as the financial products you use, and provide you clear direction on how to accomplish those goals. Indeed, a goal without a plan on how to get there is just a dream. Most beginner traders do not have set goals, or they expect to attain overnight riches. A coach or mentor assists in launching realistic weekly, monthly and yearly goals, and provides clear direction on how to realize those goals. He will also help you to be more disciplined, patient, and focused.
Most beginner traders come to an agreement that trading encompasses a lot of psychology, but many beginner traders spend very little time, if any, on the psychology aspect. It is no wonder why most beginner traders are not consistently lucrative.
A good trading coach is not just a motivator and educator but can also give you with an emotional outlet during tough times. Almost everyone, including traders, needs an emotional outlet, an individual they can communicate with who understands what they are going through. Freeing emotional pressure helps one to think clearly, manage stress, and act appropriately.
There also exists a broad spectrum of coaches, most of whom either do not trade or lack cutting-edge training in psychology. Trading is a unique venture with its own particularities if a trader seeks psychological coaching; it would be best if the coach is both a skilled trader and a professional in psychology.
Options Trading Coach
A trading coaching will help you avoid getting stranded on a learning plateau. Cognitive science has revealed that everyone plateaus when studying a discipline. Not only do we need someone to identify when we hit a plateau, but we need advice on how to move off of it.
A trading coach keeps your views and actions focused. This saves vast amounts of time, meaning you will attain your financial objectives in no less time. Let’s face it, in today’s digital world, the typical trader is buried in information. A vast majority of that information is just marketing hype that dilutes our attention and steers us away from our objectives, merely wasting our time. A good coach will motivate you to succeed in all your endeavors.
“Every leader is different. Every bench is different. Every business is different. So while the complexities change, the work of coaching stays the same, keeping your clients at the center of the work, pushing them to use their strengths more and to temper their weaknesses, and illuminate blind spots because these are what really get in the way.” – Stacy Feiner
Don’t take on this market alone! Get your free options trading class and learn the power of combining options with stock the right way.
Chris Douthit Chris Douthit, MBA, CSPO, is a former professional trader for Goldman Sachs and the founder of OptionStrategiesInsider.com. His work, market predictions, and options strategies approach has been featured on NASDAQ, Seeking Alpha, Marketplace, and Hackernoon.
